New Car For Father

[souvikjana83]

Hi All,

I am looking for a new car for my father to replace his 7 yrs old Chevrolet Spark. The car will be primarily driven by father and since he is retired, he don't want the long term maintenance cost to be very high. Also he wants to go for hatchbacks only. Budget around Rs 7 lacs. Hence after a good discussion, the following cars have been considered for now:

1. Toyota Etios Liva VX: This is the first choice of me and my dad as well simply due to high safety features, super comfort and very low maintenance cost of the car. Though exterior and interior could have been better but safety, comfort and low maintenance cost (even after 5-7 yrs) has high priority.

2. Hyundai Grand i10 Asta: This is second choice as many people we know have this car and consider this car to be quite good. Maintenance cost of this car is also reasonable though I don't know after 5-7 yrs, if it will go higher or not.

3. Ford Freestyle Titanium: The dark horse here. This new kid of the block has spot on pricing with good quality inside. Heard the maintenance cost of Ford is quite reasonable but not very sure about the same after 5-7 yrs. The ground clearance is the main attraction here and to get a Cross UV in 7 lacs is quite good.

Cars crossed out: Tata Nexon, Mahindra KUV, Maruti Swift, Maruti Baleno.

Do let me know in case of any other car that can be considered for the same.

Thanks..

 

[Akash1886]

I would say go for Freestyle CUV. Quite VFM and a decent looking car. As you mentioned about the maintenance of Ford, yes, its not heavy on pocket as Ford has taken many steps to keep the cost of maintaining reasonable. Only thing I would suggest is to go through the ownership feedback for atleast next 2-3 months so that you'll get a clear picture of any initial niggles that may occur. As you omitted 4 good products already, then, one worthy option can also be the Tiago AMT. The after-sales of TML is improving steadily as well. One more thing, do make sure the Ford ASC isn't too far from your place so that its easy for your father to co-ordinate with them for servicing etc post purchase.

Regards

Akash

 

[souvikjana83]

I would say go for Freestyle CUV. Quite VFM and a decent looking car. As you mentioned about the maintenance of Ford, yes, its not heavy on pocket as Ford has taken many steps to keep the cost of maintaining reasonable. Only thing I would suggest is to go through the ownership feedback for atleast next 2-3 months so that you'll get a clear picture of any initial niggles that may occur. As you omitted 4 good products already, then, one worthy option can also be the Tiago AMT. The after-sales of TML is improving steadily as well. One more thing, do make sure the Ford ASC isn't too far from your place so that its easy for your father to co-ordinate with them for servicing etc post purchase.

Regards

Akash

Thanks Akash for your inputs. My parents don't want to buy Tata or Mahindra (Dad may still consider but mom is absolutely no-no). Swift and Baleno were out as when we did test drive the vehicle, somehow dad was not feeling comfortable driving in it. I think it has to do with the suspension setup on the firmer side. I saw the review of Ford Freestyle as well and this probably also have the same type of suspension setup. We haven't taken test drive of the Ford as its a bit far from my place. Will do that for sure as well.

 

[Akash1886]

Thanks Akash for your inputs. My parents don't want to buy Tata or Mahindra (Dad may still consider but mom is absolutely no-no). I saw the review of Ford Freestyle as well and this probably also have the same type of suspension setup. We haven't taken test drive of the Ford as its a bit far from my place. Will do that for sure as well.

Do take a test drive surely and do go through the owner's review in near future.

Regards

Akash

 

[SachinOnTop]

Hi Souvik,
Going by your father's thought process and his likings, I'd suggest to stick to Maruti, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota only. And I agree to his viewpoint to a great extent.

His budget of 7 lakhs is very good for having great reliable cars.

I'd suggest to look at Hyundai Elite i20 petrol. Magna/Sportz will fall perfectly in your budget and are fantastic cars with proven reliability and comfort.
Another contender can be the new upcoming Honda Amaze. Its middle variant in petrol will be amazing VFM, and Honda products are always setting a benchmark in petrol category.

WRV base petrol will be slightly more than the given budget, else it is terrific VFM.

Baleno/Swift/Dzire are not upto my personal liking as well. I have Tiago AMT too, though the car is good but I will not recommend it to anyone.
Ford and VW will not be able to satiate the hunger/thirst of old school guys. Include me in that group.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Can you mention the fuel type -Petrol /Diesel.
If you are looking for Petrol , I think Grand i 10 is better (Ford petrol isn't that great in terms of fuel economy.
If diesel,then look into Ford's Territory.

 

[allhyundaicars]

i will choose between etios and freestyle. grand i10 lacks everything besides good interior quality.

between the two , my preference will be the freestyle. it has much better safety options , better interiors too. ford service costs can be checked here

both has good drive ability , good brakes , powerful AC and features but liva is outdated and like i said before freestyle has much more goodies than the liva. i might buy the same car for my dad as well.

 

[souvikjana83]

Hi Souvik,
Going by your father's thought process and his likings, I'd suggest to stick to Maruti, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota only. And I agree to his viewpoint to a great extent.

His budget of 7 lakhs is very good for having great reliable cars.

I'd suggest to look at Hyundai Elite i20 petrol. Magna/Sportz will fall perfectly in your budget and are fantastic cars with proven reliability and comfort.
Another contender can be the new upcoming Honda Amaze. Its middle variant in petrol will be amazing VFM, and Honda products are always setting a benchmark in petrol category.

WRV base petrol will be slightly more than the given budget, else it is terrific VFM.

Baleno/Swift/Dzire are not upto my personal liking as well. I have Tiago AMT too, though the car is good but I will not recommend it to anyone.
Ford and VW will not be able to satiate the hunger/thirst of old school guys. Include me in that group.

Absolutely agree to that Sachin. My father drove the Honda City for 5 yrs before he mentioned that he is not feeling comfortable driving such a long vehicle on road due to his old age. I gave him my Spark and got the City with me. He is very much enjoying driving the Spark. Small dimensions and peppy engine. But somehow after 7 years, the car is showing little niggles here and there.

He also favors Maruti, Hyundai and Toyota. In fact, he was posted outside India many years back and he saw most of the cars driven abroad is Toyota. So he is a firm believer of Toyota reliability and would like to go blindly with the Liva. I am holding him back a little.

I am considering Freestyle due to many things. The new dragon series aspirated petrol engine which is powerful. The Ford claim of Rs 41000 maintenance cost for 1 lakh kms (41 paise per km). Safety features, solid built and nice touchscreen. Price wise, it looks absolute VFM. Lets see if my dad likes it once we go for test drive of the vehicle.

Elite i20, Jazz and WRV are solid cars in their category. But somehow having the City with me, I don't find the maintenance cost of Honda vehicles to be low. The service center recommends servicing every 3 months and in general every 6 months/5000 kms. Whereas other cars have service interval of 1 yr/10k kms. I will discuss Elite i20 with dad. Though he is ok with Grand i10 as well.

Can you mention the fuel type -Petrol /Diesel.
If you are looking for Petrol , I think Grand i 10 is better (Ford petrol isn't that great in terms of fuel economy.
If diesel,then look into Ford's Territory.

Petrol only, since the monthly run of the car will be quite less (around 500 kms every month).

It is true that Petrol has not been Ford's territory as of now. But Freestyle uses a new aspirated petrol engine from Ford's Dragon Series which is quite powerful. I would like to feel the same hence will take the test drive of it.

i will choose between etios and freestyle. grand i10 lacks everything besides good interior quality.

between the two , my preference will be the freestyle. it has much better safety options , better interiors too. ford service costs can be checked here

both has good drive ability , good brakes , powerful AC and features but liva is outdated and like i said before freestyle has much more goodies than the liva. i might buy the same car for my dad as well.

Yes... My dad wants to go for Toyota due to its reliability, comfort and safety features.. I am holding him back to try out the Ford... Being old school, he has his musings about Ford ... Lets see what he considers and if Freestyle can change his thoughts ...

 

[SilverEyez]

Hi Souvikjana83,
Of the shortlisted cars i would suggest Ford Freestyle.
I dont think Liva can contend with any of your shortlisted and left out cars. Low sales figures of a model has to be considered.(IMHO)
Why have you left out i20?

 

[souvikjana83]

Hi Souvikjana83,
Of the shortlisted cars i would suggest Ford Freestyle.
I dont think Liva can contend with any of your shortlisted and left out cars. Low sales figures of a model has to be considered.(IMHO)
Why have you left out i20?

Toyota is his first choice due to its reliability, comfort and safety... I am making him wait so that we can test the Ford Freestyle...

He already thought Grand i10 would be enough for him for monthly usage of around 500 kms if considering Hyundai.. Grand i10 is also quite good car with some of our family friends owning the same.. I will discuss i20 with him though..

 

[SilverEyez]

Toyota is his first choice due to its reliability, comfort and safety... I am making him wait so that we can test the Ford Freestyle...

He already thought Grand i10 would be enough for him for monthly usage of around 500 kms if considering Hyundai.. Grand i10 is also quite good car with some of our family friends owning the same.. I will discuss i20 with him though..

Grand i10 is indeed a good car if you buy the top end with all the bells and whistles. My friend too has the Petrol top-end and the car is spacious and comfortable.

 

[anshuman8]

I would suggest you to stick to Maruti only. I had similar dilemma 5 years back but after lots of thoughts and discussions settled for Alto.

You can check out Swift , Dzire or Celerio AMT versions. Last one would make ingress and outgress easier for elders.

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Ford petrol -Dragon engine (1.2L)-3 cylinder won't match the capability of its rivals.(Highly recommending the K-series 1.2L of Swift -since you have rejected this ,i pointed to Grand i10-1.2L Kappa engine)
Ford petrol even though tuned to optimum performance and FE,still the FE reports are way less than competition.

 

[allhyundaicars]

I too would have suggested i20 sports but it's costlier by 30k and yet in freestyle you get

1. ESP
2. traction control
3. hill launch assist
4. Push button start
5. Rear window wiper and washer
6. Rear parking sensors
7. Rear camera
8. Touchscreen with navigation
9. Automatic ac
10. Alloy wheels

These are easily 1 lakh worth of features.

@ silvereyes - I would suggest you to drive the grand i10 , liva and freestyle back to back. You will get to know how bad grand i10 is. I too was surprised.

 

[SachinOnTop]

I too would have suggested i20 sports but it's costlier by 30k and yet in freestyle you get

1. ESP
2. traction control
3. hill launch assist
4. Push button start
5. Rear window wiper and washer
6. Rear parking sensors
7. Rear camera
8. Touchscreen with navigation
9. Automatic ac
10. Alloy wheels

These are easily 1 lakh worth of features.

IMO, none of these is vital/essential for an old school guy. Apart from the combo of ABS and Dual-Airbags, give him a proven engine, rugged suspension, ample ground clearance, good AC and power steering. That's it! He'll be a happy person.