Need Help Deciding on Automatic MUV / SUV

[rafian]

Dear TAI Members,

A friend of mine is looking for an automatic SUV or MUV soon. His budget is 30L.

His requirements are:
- Diesel (or Petrol with mileage matching diesel)
- Immediate delivery (Can't wait for EcoSport AT)
- Good for driving within the city everyday
- Excellent A.S.S
- Low maintenance, proven and reliable technicals
- Comfortable seating for 4
- V.Good music system + bluetooth
- ABS and Airbags

Brand does not matter. Please advice. Thanks.

 

[draneeshpm]

Re: Need help deciding on Automatic SUV/MUV

Only three vehicles ticks all the boxes,
1)BMW X1
2)Mercedes B class
3)Skoda Yeti
There are few more ones but using them as daily drives is gonna be a pain.My friend has an X1 and he gets service bills of 25k.But the spare part prices are high but I don't think for someone plonking 3 million that's gonna matter.Yeti is an awesome vehicle if he can digest the looks.
Regards,
Aneesh.

 

[rafian]

Re: Need help deciding on Automatic SUV/MUV

OTR price of BMW X1 is close to 37L. Out of budget!
Skoda Yeti looks perfect but sadly no automatic available.

I'll tell my friend to checkout Mercedes B class. Thanks.

Fyi: My friend took test drive of Fortuner 5-speed AT. Found it excellent except for a bit bumpy ride quality over city roads.

 

[draneeshpm]

Re: Need help deciding on Automatic SUV/MUV

OTR price of BMW X1 is close to 37L. Out of budget!
Skoda Yeti looks perfect but sadly no automatic available.

I'll tell my friend to checkout Mercedes B class. Thanks.

Fyi: My friend took test drive of Fortuner 5-speed AT. Found it excellent except for a bit bumpy ride quality over city roads.

Hi Rafian,
My bad,somehow the Yeti I travelled in abroad crept into mind.X1 has an offer for 4 lakhs going if that helps.Fortuner I kept out because my senior colleague is unhappy with the behemoth. I have no idea of Pajero service and Captiva has some expensive niggles.CRV is a white elephant with a Friend's BIL getting 6km/ltr.
Regards,
Aneesh.

 

[rafian]

Re: Need help deciding on Automatic SUV/MUV

Hi Rafian,
My bad,somehow the Yeti I travelled in abroad crept into mind.X1 has an offer for 4 lakhs going if that helps.Fortuner I kept out because my senior colleague is unhappy with the behemoth. I have no idea of Pajero service and Captiva has some expensive niggles.CRV is a white elephant with a Friend's BIL getting 6km/ltr.
Regards,
Aneesh.

Can you share why your senior colleague is unhappy with the Fortuner. I would like to relay that feedback to my friend. Pajero doesn't have automatic. One of my other friend owns captiva and he told me that it's very high on maintenance. He insisted that I tell my friend not to consider purchasing a Captiva.

CRV was ruled out since it doesn't fit the requirements (diesel preferred or Petrol should match up to diesel in mileage).

I just got a call from my friend who visited the Mercedes showroom. It turns out that the cheapest Merc is close to 32L and that's the B-class with ground clearance of ~155mm. The Merc salesperson doesn't call it a SUV. So that is also ruled out. The A-Class which is also not an SUV is 33L.

My friend is running around trying to find an automatic SUV or MUV with a fairly good budget. It's an eye opener that we don't have a basic reliable SUV/MUV with excellent A.S.S in India at a price range up to 30L. Fortuner is the only one selling at ~29L.

I personally love the Ertiga and told my friend to check out if an automatic variant is available - and it's not! Too bad.

Please share your colleague's experience with Fortuner. Thanks.

 

[draneeshpm]

Hi rafian,
My senior has some issues with the braking of Fortuner and the ride quality is not good.He was floored by Duster's plush ride and is ruing for buying a vehicle that's twice as pricey and low on ride comfort.But Toyota has come up with some improvements in brake of late.Is he averse to used cars?How about Renault Koleos?

 

[xtremetorque]

If possible ask your friend to test drive a Grand Vitara AT. I would like to call it a pure Suzuki car because the build quality and comfort features are far better than other Maruthi vehicles we have here. And this SUV meets most of his requirements. Onroad price for the automatic variant would be close to 26 lacs.

But then again if he can get a German car in his budget, then its worth every penny.

 

[K!NkY]

@Rafian - what is the budget for the SUV/MUV?

@xtremetorue: Grand Vitra does it has a diesel engine under hood?

If you are looking for Automatic in 20 to 30 L I would say Ford Endeavour, Toyota Fortuner and Rexton, Renault Koleos, Nissan Xtrial. of these three Fortuner is a leader. If your friend could wait little more Ford is coming with facelift on Endeavour it has real stuner looks.

If it will be a budget in 10L to 20L I would suggest Mahindra Scorpio the best AT SUV at that price.

Sadly Maruti did not bring AT in Ertiga. Even if it is introduced it will come up only with pertol versions.

 

[rafian]

K!NkY, xtremetorque,
Grand Vitara automatic is only available in Petrol.

K!NkY,
My friend test drove the Endeavour and found it very uncomfortable due to truck like suspension and the AT gear box was supposedly jerking. He thought that Endeavour would give him lower back pain.

Rexton and Scorpio are ruled out due to poor Mahindra service. In fact, my friend's friend who works in a Mahindra service center told him that the mechanics have no clue about Rexton technicals and Scorpio auto gear box.

Nissan Xtrail is an excellent choice. I am not sure about the price though. Will ask my friend to check it out. But if I remember correctly, he had ruled out Nissan due to poor (rather lack of) service thanks to HAI. Excellent A.S.S is one of his key requirements.

Off-topic: I canceled my Micra booking after experiencing poor service from the dealership and HAI. Even I would discourage my friend from buying Nissan product in India.

Renault Koleos is probably a good option. Will tell my friend to check that out. Thanks.

 

[MrRanger]

How about Captiva AT, for me it looks cool under 30lac, even pajero sport.

 

[Raja]

Rafian the best choice IMHO is fortuner AT.
Good resale value , sturdy car , reliable , powerful engine . My friend has one incase you want I can ask him specific questions you have in your mind .

 

[rafian]

MrRanger, Pajero is not available in Automatic.
One of our common friends has been driving a Captiva for the last 2 years and he's been paying for maintenance thru his nose and suggested my friend to discount it.

Raja, Thanks a lot. Could you please ask your friend how he manages to deal with the bumpy truck like ride. That's the only major problem with the fortuner.

 

[Raja]

MrRanger, Pajero is not available in Automatic.
One of our common friends has been driving a Captiva for the last 2 years and he's been paying for maintenance thru his nose and suggested my friend to discount it.

Raja, Thanks a lot. Could you please ask your friend how he manages to deal with the bumpy truck like ride. That's the only major problem with the fortuner.

Rafian my friend is out of the country and will be back by Tuesday , I will ask him and post in detail .

Btw I drove his fortuner for a good 100kms I dint find the ride bouncy , ofcourse it doesn't have the ride quality like a rexton or safari storme or aria . But its not bad atall to be discarded .

Yet I will ask his view which will have more credibility since he owns it .

 

[Ajay Sreedhar]

How about a CRV ?

 

[rafian]

Raja, I'll wait for your feedback via your friend who owns a Fortuner. Meanwhile, today my friend had visited a Toyota showroom and he was told that they could fit a Toyota approved aftermarket suspension kit for around 1.2L that would provide better ride quality. And installing the new suspension would not void the overall vehicle warranty. I was surprised that Toyota offers such a service. It seems that the new suspension kit (never got to know the make) has lifetime warranty offered by the suspension manufacturer.

Ajay Sreedhar, CRV is only offered in Petrol and I heard that the mileage is very poor.