Thread Starter
#1
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!
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!