Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan (Considering Daughter's Safety)

[Tornado]

My friend wants to exchange(preferably) his maruti 800 lpg and wants to buy a VFM car.

Daily running will be atleast 60 km + 2500 km holiday trip /year.(pune mahabaleshwar goa most of the time, with 4 people onboard and will be owner driven who is 6 f eet+)

Car will be Chauffeur driven daily for 60 km for school of the daughter(now 9 yr old).

The daily route is a state highway and full of the pot holes most of the time, now four lane widening work has begun since last week and will take atleast four years to complete, hence will be full of diversions.

Car will be kept as long as possible.

I am concerned more about his daughter's safty ,.


His wife is inclined toward Skoda Rapid Diesel.

But my friend wants a cheap and VFM car , He is ready for CNG Alto too , also he has told me to suggest a preferably CNG, LPG, Diesel in that order.

So it is a 'sandwich of expectations' situation.Decision is to be taken earliest.Please suggest.

 

[Theferrarifan]

Re: Suggest a VFM hatch or cs

hmm please give some more details on budget.

 

[Tornado]

Re: Suggest a VFM hatch or cs

His wife has told me to doctor the things so as to get Rapid for their family, which will be helpful to look after the health of her in laws occasionally (friend's parents in 80s).And my friend wants a cheap car. My situation is like a sandwich, so I have decided to carve a golden midway , I told him to look for safty of his only kid ,so now he is ready to look beyond Alto CNG , but to convince him for the Rapid is uphill task (>60°)

 

[visran]

Re: Suggest a VFM hatch or cs

Then ask him to check out Manza and Verito as both have a good ingress and egress points which will be very convenient for older people to travel, and it also comes with all the safety features,if your friend chooses any of the above cars over Rapid then he will end up saving more than a couple of lakhs upfront and will save more over a period of time on maintaining these cars, as the spares should be much cheaper than Skoda.

 

[Tornado]

Re: Suggest a VFM hatch or cs

@Visran , Suggest a hatch or cs , It's difficult to convince him for a sedan.

 

[swift&furious]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

Hey mate,

Indica Vista for sure is the VFM hatchback currently, its really worth the buck and has an


1.3MJD
Good Interiors
Good looks with alloys

& Certainly VFM

Why not ask him and his wife to go for a TD, i am confident that they might be happily Convinced

 

[Tornado]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

He can afford a sedan but he wants to save money for a flat at pre.mium location in Pune near the school near Pune station. So he thinks Sedan won't be a requirement later on, as then car will be used by himself later on for similar distance.And being near pune station and airport, long trips won't be done by car.

His wife's parents home is full of skoda s since ages, reason top notch service available at a pvt. garage at Sangali MH 10.So she can grab the opportunity to go to parents place whenever Pune's
Skoda Ass turns out to be a horror.

 

[Raja]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

Cng - wagon r , zen estilo , sedan sx4 and Honda city .

Diesel - Nissan micRa , beat diesel , ritz .punto emotion / dynamic , vista

My vote - sx4 cng , beat diesel , vista , wagon r

 

[Tornado]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

Experts please opine about safty features, SRS for a girl who is 9 yr old now., The car will be kept till she passes 12th std.

 

[Raja]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

Experts please opine about safty features, SRS for a girl who is 9 yr old now., The car will be kept till she passes 12th std.

Beat diesel lt -0 comes with airbags and abs

MicRa - only airbags no abs

Punto - airbags , abs ( emotion )

Sx4 - cng no safety

Honda city cng - abs and airbags all models .

Wagon r - no safety features

Zen estilo - no abs no airbags

Ford figo - top model all safety features

 

[Indian]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

....
Honda city cng - abs and airbags all models .
....

For safety and reliability I think Honda is the best, but the CNG is available only on VMT which is around 9.5L ex showroom. Even I have this model in my list. Will visit the dealership this weekend to find out more.

 

[Tornado]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

@Raja,feeling like visiting fiat cafe koregaon park , pune .But owners need to talk about rust problem.

I need to know, wheather air bags would be useful for her duing next three years?

 

[Raja]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

@Raja,feeling like visiting fiat cafe koregaon park , pune .But owners need to talk about rust problem.

I need to know, wheather air bags would be useful for her duing next three years?

If she seats in front yes they will be usefull in back no , then I think i20 will help top model has Curtian airbags too . If iam not wrong 6 or 4 airbags . Can some 1 please correct me ?

 

[Gurrala74]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

Tornado,

After reading your requirements and the posts from members, I see that Punto will fit as a best VFM(may be price is bit more), if he doesn't have any reservations, then Vista should be considered first.

Skoda Rapid is a good car, but I do not see it as as completely VFM with various factors

If petrol is ok, then let him go for Brio or Jazz !!

I am not convinced for LPG here for the situations and I do not know how is the CNG availability in your area

 

[Iron Rock]

Re: Suggest a Value For Money Hatch OR Compact Sedan

Tornado I am really glad to see your friend having safety very high in his list (having a daughter/kids does help in altering/realising ones thoughts in such matters ).

Looking at the running looks like diesel would make sense, now there are several Euro NCAP 4/5 vehicles like i20, Punto, Jazz, Polo, Rapid etc - however do check whether the indian versions are also equally fitted (read as abs/ airbags etc ) - these tests mostly happen on high end versions and sometimes not all safety features exist in our base models.

As far as air bags are concerned only i20 comes with a 6 air bag option i think for a hatchback(someone please correct me if i am wrong). Having said that its equally important for your friend to also hire a driver who would be a safe driver all the time, otherwise no matter what car he buys there is a risk looming - driver i believe is one of the most important safety device in a car. Also habits like wearing seat belts even in the rear seats need to be encouraged if safety is a priority.

The Amaze diesel could also be an option if he is prepared to wait, considering Honda i am sure right safety features wont be compromised.