Help & Advice Needed: Buying an SUV (Maximum Budget Rs.30 Lakhs OTR)


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Hi fellow TAIians,
This is my first post in TAI and I request your expert opinion & advice in owning a new SUV in Kerala.
Let me note down the required information as per the forum template:
Budget-Maximum 30 Lakh OTR,New SUV, Location- Central Kerala, Fuel-Diesel, Use-Regular family use with occasional long trips and mild-offroading,Monthly use- Mostly< 1000 Kms despite the heavy use during my vacation, Capacity-7 seater.
I am an entreprenuer based in Saudi Arabia hailing from central Kerala. I have been shortlisting my options in buying an SUV back home but ended up in a dilemmatic situation on the final choice. I would be in Kerala for around 4 months annually and the options in front of me should suit my parents too as they would be the primary users. They are 60+ hence the priorities would start with ride comfort and quality,good handling, comfortable ingress and egress etc. My preferences includes a powerful engine, reasonably good design and styling, fair road presence and standard features and interiors and mostly Manual transmission. We intend to keep the SUV for a minimum of 4-5 years as the next option of a new vehicle would be a premium sedan and that choice wouldn't end up getting rid of the SUV (would rather keep both).
My research has given me the following options- Hyundai New Santa Fe 4*2 MT, Toyota Fortuner 4*4 MT,Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Chevrolet Captiva, Ford Endeavour and Ssangyong Rexton. I have ruled out the options of Audi Q3S and BMW X1 as they don't fit in my definition of a proper SUV. I am not a great fan of the thug styling of the T-Forte and its ride quality as I use it often during work (Even the interiors looks cheap and they are so common in the roads now). I have managed to TD only the Santa Fe and Fortuner hence I have no clue on the pros and cons of the other options despite the information I collected from the reviews.
The Santa Fe TD was quite impressive as most of my requirements were met and was a notch above my expectation (Styling,comfort,handling, Features, power, performance etc are good). The only factors which made me a bit hesitant in booking the Santa Fe was the pricing, the Hyundai badge (my friends keep threatening me on this aspect alone),the Snob value and below par 3rd row seating.
Any counsel on the issue would be highly appreciated as I am planning to finalize the options in a month (by September) and have to get hold of the SUV before the excise duty exemption is revoked[;)]. Please advise if I should get hold of any other SUV's in my list for a TD which might make me reconsider my inclination towards the Santa Fe.
Thanks in advance guys!
Keep rocking!
 

AMG

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Re: Help & advice needed-Buying an SUV (maximum budget 30Lakhs OTR)

Only for 4 months, plus parents need to use = less running + automatic

Less running = Petrol

Petrol = CR-V, or if you want brand value, then X1 or Q3
 
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Re: Help & advice needed-Buying an SUV (maximum budget 30Lakhs OTR)

Captiva, Endeavour - extinct models, waiting for re-birth

Rexton, Pajero Sport AE - ideal but might be enormous for parents, especially main use is city driving ( I have Rexton RX6, but had i10 AT for city driving & for wife / father).

Santa FE - pricey for features

Why not Innova (T-fort absolutely no no as compared to Rexton or Pajero sports Anniversary edition) - absolute ride (suspension), minimal handling issue, no turbo lag. Possible only disadvantage is no AT & less features and less power / torque as compared to Rexton / PS.

Why not Duster / Ecosport / Nissan Terrano - just mentioning them as parents will be primarily using them - they are less mightier than and have more road presence ( so more ASS & spare available) than Rexton / Pajero Sports.

I can write for hours for pros & cons of all of this, as recently I had passed many sleepless nights to evaluate & compare SUVs, & had taken TD of almost everybody (even of those not on your list, e.g. Tata Aria, Mahindra XUV). But we can better help you if you give weightage to each feature required by you, like this The Mighty Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Drives In [10K Kms Crossed]
 
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Re: Help & advice needed-Buying an SUV (maximum budget 30Lakhs OTR)

Thanks Dhoom9 and AMG.
I forgot to mention that parents usage would be primarily chauffeur driven except in emergency cases. I am all praises for Innova but I don't like the looks of it in my garage (My place is flooded with Innova taxis as well). Duster/Eco Sport/Terrano have been ruled since they don't fit in the definition of a proper SUV.
Guess the options have been streamlined to Pajero Sport, Santa Fe and Rexton!
 

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The Pajero Sport does not offer any advantages over Santa Fe and Rexton, unless you are into hardcore off roading.


I'm not sure how that helps, because the primary requirement there was

Top Five Priorities: 4x4 with Low ratio compulsory(no AWD business), Average to low maintenance, Long term workhorse, Decent in Space for 5, 7 is a bonus, Decent FE, VFM and reliable.

And that is not the case here
 
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Re: Help & advice needed-Buying an SUV (maximum budget 30Lakhs OTR)

Thanks Dhoom9 and AMG.
Guess the options have been streamlined to Pajero Sport, Santa Fe and Rexton!
Prime reason for me to go for Rexton was 1) Mahindra dealer in my city ( Hyundai 200km while PS dealer 350km away), 2) Rexton was in showroom ready for sale (actually I had gone to try XUV 500). 3) All problems of Santa FE & PS were solved more or less for me in Rexton RX6, which is MT with all bells & whistles of highest variant RX7 except AT.

Problems I thought for Santa FE: With high price comes the higher expectations. With santa FE has many cool features, but can't satisfy many things.
1) First & foremost, new model launched in 2014, but still not have GPS navigation,
2) central console screen too small for Reverse camera,
3) higher price for no reason,
4) costlier maintenance & spares,
5) No 4wd/AWD option with MT,
6) No sunroof,
7) No auto dimming IRVM,
8) At this pricing I expect front parking sensors,
9) Monococcque design, so not as sturdy as ladder frame chassis,
10) 2WD MT variant don't have most security features like EPS, HSA, only 2 front airbags,
11) height less compared to Rexton/PS, so 3rd row has severely limited headroom,
12) Front & 2nd row legroom adequate & like sedan, not up stance & wide like Rexton/PS,
13) Ground clearance is least (185mm) compared to PS & Rexton (251mm),
(What I liked - 6 airbags, Good look, 18" alloys, Xenon headlights, Hill Start Assist, steering controls, MID between speedometer & tachometer)

Problems I thought for Pajero Sport:
1) Only one ASS in Gujarat state, & that too 350km away,
2) How much & how long Mitsubishi will support this model in India,
3) 2 front airbags (Rexton has 4),
4) PS Annin Edition has 6" HU screen with Navigation & Reverse camera, but no MID. However at 40K extra, MID can be incorporated in central console.

Watch this for PS: The Mighty Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Drives In [10K Kms Crossed] by Iron_Rock

Watch this Rexton: T-Rex is Here - Mahindra Ssangyong Rexton RX6 by Me
 
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Re: Help & advice needed-Buying an SUV (maximum budget 30Lakhs OTR)

Thanks for that detailed analysis Dhoom9. Certain points confused me though.
4) costlier maintenance & spares
I presumed Hyundai was the one with the cheapest maintenance cost. Have you done any inquiry with the existing Santa Fe owners (previous generation ones) regarding the maintenance cost and spares? The information I received was contradictory.
9) Monococcque design, so not as sturdy as ladder frame chassis
I always preferred monococque design over ladder frames-Ride comfort & quality are always better.
10) 2WD MT variant don't have most security features like EPS, HSA, only 2 front airbags
A sad fact that they ripped away the MT variant with all those features
13) Ground clearance is least (185mm) compared to PS & Rexton (251mm)
I was a bit confused on this part but Mom said she was more comfortable getting in and out of the Santa Fe than the fortuner (221mm). Guess 251mm would be way high.
Lets wait for some more surgical analysis which may help me reach a conclusion.
 
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Re: Help & advice needed-Buying an SUV (maximum budget 30Lakhs OTR)

Thanks for that detailed analysis Dhoom9. Certain points confused me though..

Lets wait for some more surgical analysis which may help me reach a conclusion
Your confusion in bold, my explanation in usual fonts.

I presumed Hyundai was the one with the cheapest maintenance cost. Have you done any inquiry with the existing Santa Fe owners (previous generation ones) regarding the maintenance cost and spares? The information I received was contradictory.

Hyundai may be cheap as compared to German or Jap. I have Hyundai i10 AT, & as compared to my earlier owned Innova, WagonR, Esteem etc., maintenance cost with Hyundai is much higher. My close friend own Verna & he has similar story. So my assumption about Santa Fe. However this may be regional ASS observation.

I always preferred monococque design over ladder frames-Ride comfort & quality are always better.

Ladder frames are well known for sturdiness (abuse friendly) & off road capability, but that are not essential for you, so yes, monococque with its own advantages can be preferred.

A sad fact that they ripped away the MT variant with all those features.

This was the principal reason I didn't proceed for Santa Fe or Ford Ecosport beyond TD, because MT are lower variant & devoid of important safety or luxuary features, so that there remains no point to purchase that vehicle.

I was a bit confused on this part but Mom said she was more comfortable getting in and out of the Santa Fe than the fortuner (221mm). Guess 251mm would be way high.

Rexton has side steps like TF, so as to ease in & out of cabin. I mentioned low GC to warn one has to be little cautious while offroading or over bumps. Rexton / PS just glides over bumps or potholes unless they are big (depth / height more than width).
 
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Why Not a Captiva Sir ??

Hi and Welcome to TAI.You can also consider the Captive Xtreme Edition which is also the topend model.It has lesser maintainence costs than Hyundai and is rarer in our roads so a Captiva will surely become a Head-turner :biggrin: .Thank you

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Re: Help & advice needed-Buying an SUV (maximum budget 30Lakhs OTR)

If you can wait for some time, new Nissan X Trail would be good option.


Why not Duster / Ecosport / Nissan Terrano - just mentioning them as parents will be primarily using them - they are less mightier than and have more road presence ( so more ASS & spare available) than Rexton / Pajero Sports.
That's a new definition for road presence [;)]
 
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Re: Help & advice needed-Buying an SUV (maximum budget 30Lakhs OTR)

That's a new definition for road presence [;)]
I understand 'Road Presence' to mean a certain poise, elegance and grace, something like a distinguished gentleman or an elegant lady. They are not necessarily big & handsome or even pretty, but they have a certain quality that makes them stand out from the crowd. But here I mentioned it for quantitative meaning [;)]
 
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Why Not a Captiva Sir ??
You can also consider the Captive Xtreme Edition which is also the topend model.It has lesser maintainence costs than Hyundai and is rarer in our roads so a Captiva will surely become a Head-turner :biggrin: .Thank you
Thanks Bharath. I am not a big fan of GM models. Captiva is loaded with options but the sales chart is dull for an year or so. ASS also pose a problem in my area. I would prefer choosing one of the 3 options (Santa Fe, Pajero Sport or Rexton RX7)

If you can wait for some time, new Nissan X Trail would be good option.
Thanks. A very good option but the X-trail would be relaunched only buy the end of 2015 i presume. I have to make the booking by the September at the latest since I have some important family functions lined up in December.

Isuzu MU7? Grand Vitara?
Thanks but I am not interested in those two models. Isuzu is impressive but will have major problems in ASS for atleast 3-4 years.
 
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Thanks Bharath. I am not a big fan of GM models. Captiva is loaded with options but the sales chart is dull for an year or so. ASS also pose a problem in my area. I would prefer choosing one of the 3 options (Santa Fe, Pajero Sport or Rexton RX7)
Take back to back detailed test drives of all 3 and make a chart per your priorities and then put in the points scored out of 5 or 10, see how they add up, repeat it a few times independently.

Btw Santa Fe with such poor approach angle and GC - quite frankly an SX4 might offroad better than it [lol]. So dont consider Santa Fe for even mild offroading needs.
 

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