Hi All,
I am planning to buy a new hatch back. I will be driving 1000-1500 kms a month. Kindly suggest me a good hatch back keeping in mind safety, comfort & reliability. I like polo & beat. my budget will be 5,00,000 to 6,00,000 INR.
Hmm..this is the confusion which comes in the largest numbers,actually this budget has zillions of choices..
So your running is 1000 to 1500 kms,so its totally upon you if you want a petrol or diesel as buying a diesel will also take years to start giving benefit to you.
Well,in case you want a petrol:-
I won't speak of a hundred cars,but just some(Since safety is a must for me,so only cars having at least ABS are considered):-
Honda Brio:Well,its a Honda,so its reliable,fuel efficient and of course somewhere fun to drive too.
This car has got plenty of space,good ride and handling and FE too.
1.2 i-vtec is simply the best engine especially if you are a highway runner as this engine performs best at higher revs.
Still,its quite shorter on features and a small boot and overall practicality is against this car.
MS Swift ZXi:Well this car is slightly higher than 6 lacs,but then it deserves it,the 1.2K is the most responsive engine here specially if you consider the mid-range torque(where the engine spends most of its life).
This car has good space(on front seats only,not rear),ride is also great and with harder springs this car has got very planted high speed ride,but then its quite bumpy on lower speeds.Handling is also great but only on ZXi due to fatter rubber.Overall cabin quality is also great and this car is loaded with a lot of features.
Only cons of this car are the small boot,high loading bay,low rear seat comfort and low speed ride.
MS Ritz ZXi:If you are happy with the shape,then this is the car to go,loaded with features,good performance etc etc,all the features of Swift come handy with the tall-boy design.
And yes,this car fells perfectly in your budget.
Even pros and cons are same as of Swift.
Hyundai i10 1.2 Asta:1.2 Kappa2 is simply the best performing engine especially when you require acceleration.This is the best car for city movers.Low speed ride and handling is simply the best of all but then high speed dynamics are compromised.
The puny tyres are never good for 100+ speeds nor the dynamics are,rest this car is the best if you need a city car.
Honda Jazz(if you can stretch a bit):Well,if you can stretch a bit,then this is the best thing you can get in the market.although there is along waiting list but then this car deserves it too.Best in space,comfort,ride,handling,performance and FE.This car offers the joy of all worlds in a single package.And the added practicality of MAGIK seat,big boot etc comes handy.
But then this is the same 1.2 i-vtec engine and is best at higher revs and same way worst at lower end.
Other petrol cars in this price bracket are nowhere as good as these cars..
In case you want a diesel car,then I'll also say the same as said by 'Raj':
Assuming your budget of Rs. 6 Lacs is for on road price, the options you have are -
Beat mid variant
Punto base variant +
Figo mid variant
i20 base variant +
ritz base variant
swift base variant +
vista base variant
(+ sign indicates it costs a little above 6 Lacs on road)
Polo base diesel is over your budget by 60k.
Coming to your priorities -
1) Safety: To be honest, as you can see above, in diesel cars you will get only base & mid variant, none of them offers Airbags or ABS. Yes, some cars are structurally stronger than others. For example, Punto & Polo is much safer when compared to Ritz & Beat.
2) Comfort: When we say comfort, we mean the space inside, the seats & the ride comfort. When it comes to space & seats, nothing beats the Victa but the ride quality is choppy. Coming a close second is Punto with excellent front seats & magic capret ride quality, but it loses out on rear seat space. The overall all rounder would be the i20, which has decent space & quite comfy ride at slow speeds.
3) Reliability: When we say this word, the first thing that hits our mind is Maruti & Toyota. Sadly, Toyota Liva is out of your budget. That leaves us with Swift & Ritz. I personally hate the way both of them looks though! Secondly, I feel they are a bit overpriced to what they offer, when compared to competitors.
My pick of the lot would be the Punto followed by the i20 followed by the Swift. If you are keen on features, then you would not like to choose a base variant, that leaves you with Beat & Figo. I would suggest the Figo.