Re: Easy To Drive Hatchback - Need Help
From what I have heard from people in my circle, it has to be the Jazz which offers a lot of ease of driving in city with a lot of practicality.
BTW is there anything on this earth which is better than a Brio for city routes? And with the on going offers, a Brio VX (with all safety features) can be had for less than 6 lac.
Else... Go automatic!! Celerio AMT for tight budget and Figo DCT for 8 lac budget
Thanks Vipul for the detailed reply. Brio is definitely on my list. Celerio is also to be considered. But I doubt if we would take the Figo DCT, it is a new launch and there is still some confusion about 10 year DCT warranty.
Honda Jazz and I20, but Jazz tops the space and practicality points and considering you have etios which would have spoilt you for Space at the back i wouldn't recommend the i20. Baleno is very similar to Swift and Swift Dzire except the front side bling effect and Apple play.
Honda Jazz & Hyundai i20 are my top 2 choices. The former is marginally ahead in terms of practicality and easy entry/exit. It also comes with efficient engines compared to latter. Being Honda, I expect it to hold well for 8 years or even more.
3rd choice would be Baleno.
If Petrol, choose either Baleno or Grand i10 or Jazz!(I know itsn't fair to compare these, but these 2 have decent petrol engine withnice driveability)
If Diesel, choose either Elite i20 or Jazz.
But before that, TD them all. Choose what fits your mom. If I were you, I'd go for Grand for 2 reasons. Easy to drive in city, small dimension but yet better space in the cabin.
Thanks krishnavamshi, nishant5858 and furious_driver for the suggestions. Baleno, Jazz and Elite i20 are surely tempting but do consider my requirements, given in better detail below.
Wagon R AMT - is a reasonable choice, it won't give you too much gizmos like grand i 10 automatic but fuel economy and as well as maintenance friendly package it's a sure shot.
WagonR AMT is also shortlisted. Thanks VISHNUCARCRAZY. I was wondering if the dashboard hieght would be a problem for a 5'5" person.
You can wait for the Tata Kite which will be launched next month; if you are not in a hurry. It seems to have EPS and easy driveable engines at the same time offering good space and possibly great interiors. Else you have the Celerio, Tata Bolt, WagonR, i10.
There is no hurry, the purchase would be done in 2016 only. But we (parents only) are not willing to go for new launches, because of the initial niggles they have in the initial batches. Thanks for the suggestion.
> Seating Capacity: 5 (but 3 people in comfort is fine - as we have Etios when we need space)
What I meant by the above statement was that 2 people at the front and 1 at the back seat should be comfortable, not only space-wise but seat contours and cushioning also.
I am re-writing my requirements in detail below.
Firstly I am confused between a diesel or a petrol. As budget is not a problem (for diesel cars) and running is around the 1000 km mark, we are thinking of going for a diesel car as it will have a better resale value and diesel is a cheaper fuel. I am worried about the turbo lag in diesel cars below 2000 RPM which might be hard to handle in city traffic, especially for ladies. Petrol's torque curve would be a lot more linear and power delivery will start from a lower RPM. Which would be easier to drive in city? A decent performing engine at the lower revs would be better. Next, I am confused on the transmission type - AMT, AT or Manual? I have ruled out manual transmission cars as on now, and will consider those only when I fail to find a good AT car. My mother is not a newbie in driving and is able to drive the Etios comfortably on open city roads, but she has problems in traffic, parking and reversing in the Swift (due to poor rear visibility), Dzire (due to poor rear visibility and turbo lag) and Etios (due to long boot). So the car should have good frontal and lateral visiblity, should have a tight turning radius, and would be good if aided with parking camera from the factory. Music system can be crap or good - it WILL be changed after few months of ownership.
Fuel efficiency is not a problem. 13 kmpl and above is fine. We want 1 airbag, ABS, rear wiper and basic features like power windows, EPS, etc.. Alloys are not necessary. The legspace and headroom should be decent (even slightly tight is manageable). Rear seat won't be used much but the seats need to be comfortable. Soft compound seats are preferred. And one more thing, we are not considering new launches and will have to remove Jazz, Baleno, etc. from the list. Only tested and successful cars would be considered. Also, the car would cover close to 1 Lac kms during ownership, how would an AT car (and petrol) hold in these conditions?
Now what do the members have to say?
I am shortlisting the following cars as of now and will begin the showroom visits shortly.
- Hyundai Elite i20 Petrol (Asta, Asta Option)
- Maruti WagonR (Vxi Option, Vxi AMT)
- Honda Brio (VX, VX AT)
- Chevrolet Beat (LT Option, LT Diesel Option)
- Maruti Celerio (ZXI, ZDI)
- VW Polo (Comfortline, TDI Comfortline)
- Maruti Ritz (ZXI, ZDI)
- Hyundai Grand i10 (Asta Option, CRDi Asta Option)