Re: Looking For An Automatic Transmission Sedan!
I've driven many automatic cars in the last 25 years in several countries. Based on my experience I would suggest:
- Buy Toyota or Honda Automatic car. They will last forever (means you'll give up and buy a new car before the car gives up). On the service front, Toyota offers the best after sales service in India. Honda is good as well, but Toyota service is too good to be true (**in comparison to other manufacturers**). The only reason I am not a fan of Honda is that they are a stingy company. Their cars are always less loaded compared to cars made by say Hyundai or even Toyota. A Honda salesman once told me that I should order the CD player separately for 44K for the Honda City. For some strange reason Honda thinks that CD players are obsolete. And Toyota doens't mind putting a DVD/CD/MP3 player in their cars.
- If you're looking for CVT, i.e. you're interested in latest technology, you're looking for optimum mileage, you're looking for ultra smooth driving - I think Renault (Scala/Fluence) and Nissan (Sunny) are the only cars in the Indian market offering CVT. It's 100% imported (CVT and related components). They might seem pricey but the CVTs would definitely give you better mileage. Yes, Nissan and Renault don't have too many service centers. But based on general feedback from my friends who are Nissan owners (Renault and Nissan are the same - feedback on one pretty much applies to the other), the quality of the cars in general is excellent. Engines are top-notch. CVT has been kicking really well all over Europe. So that as well is proven technology.
Note:
- Cars with CVT might be a bit expensive due to import duty.
- Don't think that Toyota and Honda don't have CVTs. They do, but they are not able to get the costing right for the Indian market. Their CVT cars are available in other countries. I am a bit surprised how Nissan and Renault were able to get the costing right and introduce CVT without putting a price tag that is way higher than the non-CVT cars. Anyway, good for the Indian market. Thanks to Nissan and Renault (otherwise companies like Toyota will continue to sell Fortuners with 4 speed automatic (with old noisy engines) for almost 30lakhs - oh well they still do, with an additional 5th gear (big deal!!).
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