Replacement For My Spark - The Search Ends: Bought Figo Ford Titanium

[chayan]

My Spark LT recently completed 4 years and though the experience has been quite satisfying, I started thinking about a proper replacement for it. Also discussed this with my wife (who would be actually using it more than me) and since petrol bills are touching Rs.6000 to Rs.6500/- per month, getting a diesel would be an option.

Following are my requirements/conditions in summary. These might change through the search process, but for now these are what I am looking for:
1) The car needs to be a hatch. As would be driven through North Kolkata streets daily, anything more than hatch dimension wise would be a pain.
2) Maximum budget (On Road) - Rs.6.5 lakh
3) Diesel.. would be my first diesel hence something different, daily driving experience wise
4) If possible, should have ABS+EBD and Airbags
5) Timeline - 2 to 6 months. I am in no hurry and hence would like to research the market before I take a informed decision. Also hope the coming festive season would bring up some great offers.
6) Open to LPG or electric (Reva). There is no CNG in Kolkata hence that's not an option.
7) Mostly will be used by my wife for office commute and city runs. Some highway travel, though probably would take my bigger Jazz when that happens.

I did a little research on the prices and found two cars fulfilling my requirements .. Beat LT (O) and Vista VX. I will try to TD them both, however was also thinking if Beat LPG (O) can be an option.
I could not find any user reviews for Beat LPG, however can be a contender since the LPG station falls on my way to office.

Can anyone give me some idea whether going for Beat LPG makes sense? Is there any option other than the two/three above that I have missed? Please let me know.

 

[Raja]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

There are some other options I would like to suggest you .
1) maruti ritz ( proven fiat engine , cheap to maintain in long run no nonsense practical car )
2) ford figo ( although iam not sure if in your given budget it will come with abs / airbags in your budget I think you might get only abs )

3) fiat punto ( superb car for some 1 who loves to drive , good gizmos and yummy discounts on offer )

Since you already own a spark and if the car is not giving you any trouble , why not ask Chevy guys to convert it into LPG ? Spark if iam not mistaken does come with LPG option . Or you can try and find some highly reputated installer in your city and take a quote from them .

Chevy beat itself is a very nice car for your daily city driving . On highways after crossing certain speed it can run out of breath . In city it's very easy to handle .
Chevy LPG option is good but then seeing the price increase on LPG in longer run there won't be good advantage ( savings wise ) . And the mileage on LPG is lesser .

Vista is a good option too but as you must be knowing there are polarizing views about tata a.s.s , so it's better that you do some research about tata a,s.s in your city and maybe ask some owners about their reviews too . Nevertheless the car is nice gives good space , has decent gizmos and will give you comfertable ride .

Mahindra will be also launching their quanto mini muv / suv ( whichever way you see it ) but I doubt you will get abs/ airbags in 6.5-7 lakhs but things will get clear on 20th September when they will launch it .

Hyundai eon is there in LPG but then space is very less . I don't know if i10 comes with LPG or not you can check that .

My advice would be to go for diesel option , so refueling it won't give you any kind of trouble whichever part of the city or country you are in .

Since you have 6 months grace period it's great because there are couple of launches planned like Chevy sail , Honda brio ( deisel ) , nano diesel , new spark , new beat and new figo too ( new means refreshed ) .

Hope the suggestions help if you have any further questions / doubts please ask ,so that rest of members can also come up with their suggestions to help you to decide .

 

[chayan]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Thanks Raja for the quick reply.

My comments:
1) Yes, Ritz VDi might fit in my budget. Maruti does have certain advantages (& disadvantages). Since the new facelift has just been launched I dont think there would be any discount. But I will TD the car too and see what price they offer.

One more criteria that would affect the final decision is the exchange price they offer on my Spark, as that would bring down the total cost. However I know Chevy resale value are historically not good so am conservative on this.

2) Figo is a capable car, however some how dont like the looks. Would be my last option.
3) Fiat Punto would definitely be a contender as it is one of the best cars I have driven, however not sure if it would be in my budget. Will check on the discounts though.
4) Conversion of current Spark to LPG: I did enquire on this during my last service however they said that they GM does not offer this as a service. Also enquired with a few LPG fitters (Lovato etc.) and the cost is near about Rs.40K.
Another reason I want to exchange the Spark, is that I would have to renew tax next year (~Rs.25K for 5 years). Hence does not make sense to spend Rs.65K on something that I am definitely not going to keep for another 5 years.
5) Would be interested in the Mahindra Quanto, however that would not be a hatch. Lets see what price point they launch it at.
6) Not interested in i10 or Eon as they are chiefly petrol and not sold on the LPG alternative yet.

I agree that diesel is the way forward, however I fear that as soon as I buy diesel, govt will deregulate it and it would lose the advantage it now holds .

"The fears of the wicked will be fulfilled; the hopes of the godly will be granted" .. from the Bible.

 

[Raja]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

1000% Hyundai eon comes in LPG I have seen it with my own eyes

If you want good space excellent ,ride quality ,and sofa like comfort vista can't be matched plus it has the same multijet engine in punto , and maruti cars .

Yes see how you find the ritz .They have changed the look too and put some features .


Beat has a good mixture of ride quality and handling and build quality is very good .And has good fuel economy too .

Punto I mean its a drivers delight press for more discounts .( I will not go further explaining about punto because I personally like the car very much so I can be biased here ) 1 more point not a problem actually but punto has a very long clutch travel and some women find it uncomfortable to use , so see how you'r wife feels about it after driving ..

1 more car which i forgot to suggest you Is the very underrated Nissan micRa . it has amazing fuel economy and zero yes zero turbo lag and extremely easy to drive in city they too are giving good amount of discounts but the car dosent come with abs, only you get are the airbags . Our forum has a official test drive report kindly check it .


Btw I do own a spark myself same 4 years old which I will replace next year hopefully . IMHO I think you will get 1.80 to 2 lakhs for your lt model maybe 10-20,000 more too but seriously not more then that .

 

[chayan]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Hi Raja,

Thanks for the advice.

1000% Hyundai eon comes in LPG I have seen it with my own eyes

What I meant was that I am not yet sold on the LPG option yet .

On phone; Chevy is offering me Rs. 1.25 lakh as exchange on my Spark (including ext bonus - Rs.15000). Prices in the east have traditionally being low but this I think is too low for the car. They will give final price only after they inspect the car. Probably given the time, I will try to sell it directly.

I have asked the Chevy people for Beat LT (O) TD. Let see how that goes. The SA I spoke to is the same one I had bought the Spark from 4 years back. He did keep contact, inviting us to the Chevy events in the past so no complaints on that part. Also I agree that there is some loyalty probably because of the past Spark experience that might go in the Beat's favor. Only issue I had was with a particular ASS (Speed) who charged me for my last free service (at the end of 3 years) because I was couple of days late while another one (Dhulichand) had confirmed that they could adjust it. However the problem was on my end as I had been late (I thought 3 years from the date I got the car and not from the date of registration), hence can't blame them entirely. But they could have shown some degree of understanding in order to keep customer satisfaction. The current ASS (Longia) is best as you can directly supervise the work and have a lesser tendency to suggest parts replacements until necessary.

 

[Gurrala74]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

@chayan

+10000 to Raja's post which fairly covered everything and completely unbiased with crisp and good advise , so nothing much left to add something here, but

In my opinion do not go for LPG for various reasons !!

One of my brother bought Eon LPG and I drove it, its space and everything is good but, some power was missing and I felt M800 got more power than this (when I drove in petrol & LPG)

If usage is less stick to petrol, because we really do not know what happens to the fate of diesel price in India, it is more depends on political willingness !!

If diesel, I push towards Punto first, a wonderful car and started increasing their network now, if you talk to them you will really get a good deal as they are open for discussion

Next choise is either Vista or Ritz , but while choosing Vista check for A.S.S as Raja already mentioned.

I personally do not suggest Beat diesel or petrol and Spark is much better !! here again you may not willing to buy a car from GM once again !!

Apart from this I suggest you to check with Skoda Fabia, people say that the prices are dropped and even service and spares cost is cheaper these days. Why skoda, yes for its built and safety features and of-course for Skoda badging !!

Also the upcoming models look very interesting as mentioned by Raja and may be it is worth for something like Brio diesel

 

[Raja]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Please try and sell your car to some private buyer since any company will allways give you very less amount in exchange .

 

[chayan]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

TDed the Beat LT (O). The SA brought the car to office and the experience was both good and bad.

Observations:
1) Design and styling looks good however not ageless. Hence what seems good now might feel out of fashion in a few years
2) Front legroom is OK, though there is a tendency for your left knee to touch the central console (driver side). But will get adjusted once you adapt.
3) Over all plastic fit and finish are good. Music system and AUto A/c layout looks good. A/c effectiveness is good and better than the Spark. Did not test the music system fully.
4) Pickup is good, engine noise is minimal. I could easily touch 100 km/hr faster than what I can on my Spark (with 4 people sitting). However at 100-110 km/hr, felt not that sure footed somehow (when compared to the Spark). This is strange because all reviews I have read says that the Beat has good high speed stability.
5) Excellent for city drive. I could easily navigate through the crowded road in front of office at lunch time (pedestrian as well as other cars randomly parked and moving in all directions) :-)
Given that this is the first time I am driving this car, take it as a positive.
6) Gear needs getting used to. Felt like there is no distinct slot (or slots to be very shallow) and somehow felt vague. Again something that probably you will adjust in a couple of days
7) Has clutch protection system.. which means that if you half clutch, the clutch pedal would vibrate to let you know. I joked to the SA that 'clutch alert system' would be a more apt name.
8) Steering is very tight specially being EPS. I would have liked something with a little more feel
9) Being a diesel, you need to maintain the gear and speed range ratios, otherwise it complains and not as forgiving as the Spark. However the whinning is a gentler one and you will soon adapt to it.
10) Back seat legspace is comparable to the Spark. The windows are small and set a little high and hence overall space seems smaller than it really is
11) Boot space is again comparable to Spark but height wise its more. Addition of boot lamp is a good touch
12) The big LCD shows only time, fuel, trip and tachyometer. No instant/avg fuel consumption reading or distance to empty readings (probably I am expecting too much)
13) Tyres are JK (14 inch 165) which are not the best. Michelin (or even Amazer) would have been better. Asked if they can change it, SA replied that they might be able to switch to Apollo if any cars in the same batch had those, but chances are very remote.

I did find some gaps in the door beading, so when the driver side door closed, you could see the door paint through the gap. Pointed this out to the SA, but probably an issue with this particular car. He kept on saying that this has the same 3 series assembly line as the Cruze so quality is top notch, however not sure what that actually means.

Now my wife's feedback :- Did not like the car. Thought she sat too low (she is taller in comaprison to Indian Avg women height). Had issues with the gear and somehow did not like the whole feeling overall. One line that summarizes how she felt .." When I TDed the Spark 4 years back, I felt this car was for me. I did not get that feeling with the Beat".

Lastly they inspected my Spark, took details of insurance and road tax and said that they will send me a final exchange price.

Hence in summary; have not ruled this out but will depend on how good or bad the others are. Again all the above are my personal observations, and not trying to hurt anyone's sentiments.

 

[Raja]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

@chayan

+10000 to Raja's post which fairly covered everything and completely unbiased with crisp and good advise , so nothing much left to add something here, but

In my opinion do not go for LPG for various reasons !!

One of my brother bought Eon LPG and I drove it, its space and everything is good but, some power was missing and I felt M800 got more power than this (when I drove in petrol & LPG)

If usage is less stick to petrol, because we really do not know what happens to the fate of diesel price in India, it is more depends on political willingness !!
..................

Great suggestions like allways from you

However why u suggest a fabia when you tell people not to buy a polo ?

It's the same car with differnt desgin and it is as noisy as the polo .again only 3 cylinders only . Less features and not great interiors compared to polo .

How come spares and service is cheaper ? Infact skoda themselves are saying its being high because of low localization . And in a next refresh they will keep the localization high so it can be competetive . And what is so great about skoda badge ? it's less premiuim then VW which you seem to not suggest .

Suggesting a skoda fabia and not VW polo is very contradictory from your side dear .

Chayan - great you took the test drive , now do take test ride of the ritz also , and punto .

 

[sethumurugan]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

4) Conversion of current Spark to LPG: I did enquire on this during my last service however they said that they GM does not offer this as a service. Also enquired with a few LPG fitters (Lovato etc.) and the cost is near about Rs.40K.

I know that GM does n't do conversion to LPG as service. To my knowledge the service people are not that good in servicing LPG. That is another story which I will try to share later.

Another reason I want to exchange the Spark, is that I would have to renew tax next year (~Rs.25K for 5 years). Hence does not make sense to spend Rs.65K on something that I am definitely not going to keep for another 5 years.

Can you explain this if possible. Tax is not for life time? why do you want to pay tax again after 5 years [actually you are scaring me]

Btw I do own a spark myself same 4 years old which I will replace next year hopefully . IMHO I think you will get 1.80 to 2 lakhs for your lt model maybe 10-20,000 more too but seriously not more then that .

Hi Raja,

Thanks for the advice.

What I meant was that I am not yet sold on the LPG option yet .

On phone; Chevy is offering me Rs. 1.25 lakh as exchange on my Spark (including ext bonus - Rs.15000). Prices in the east have traditionally being low but this I think is too low for the car. They will give final price only after they inspect the car. Probably given the time, I will try to sell it directly.

.

Please try and sell your car to some private buyer since any company will allways give you very less amount in exchange .

Raja is right. Resale value of GM products are pathetic. Actually I went with my friend to a tata show room who wanted to TD nano. At that time I just enquired about a Indiaca ECS and also the value for my sparky. At that it was hardly 3k or 4k on odo and hardly 6 months old [again I have to make a note that it is 2010 model and I took it in 2011]. He said 1.85l. I was shocked. I was about to sit into Indica ECS for TD. as soon as I heard this i just came out the car, got my keys and started from there.

In last Chennai auto expo at Trade center, i happened to visit GM stall. there I looked the beat diesel. There I enquired about the exchange price for my sparky he also said max of Rs. 2l to 2.5l

So only option would be on public market to private buyes. I heard that there are some buyers who are looking for spark specifically.

One of my brother bought Eon LPG and I drove it, its space and everything is good but, some power was missing and I felt M800 got more power than this (when I drove in petrol & LPG)

Actually in LPG mode for sure you will have a pickup problem. When you are here we will go for ride. You will feel it. No other go.

TDed the Beat LT (O). The SA brought the car to office and the experience was both good and bad.

Observations:
1) Design and styling looks good however not ageless. Hence what seems good now might feel out of fashion in a few years
2) Front legroom is OK, though there is a tendency for your left knee to touch the central console (driver side). But will get adjusted once you adapt.
3) Over all plastic fit and finish are good. Music system and AUto A/c layout looks good. A/c effectiveness is good and better than the Spark. Did not test the music system fully.............................

Good you have taken TD of beat. As Mr. Raja mentioned pls try other also and take a decision.

• Couple of more problems in LPG [which I thought I can share it]
• Outlets for LPG is very less. Since most of the autos are running in LPG they occupy the queue like anything. Either you have to stand in the queue or the pump wala will allow you after 5-6 autos. range would be 5 autos 1 car.
• You have to plan accordingly when you go on long trip. I have huge list of LPG dispensers across various city and its accurate only to 50%. suddenly you will not find a LPG anywhere.
• Improtant thing is, price hike of LPG is not annonced anywhere. Suddenly when you go there then only you will find the hike. When I got the car in last october it as Rs.41.xx sudenly in june it went upto Rs.54. I was shocked. but suddenly it started reducing and now it is only Rs. 43.31. Hope it continues to be there for some more time.

 

[freakdude]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Buddy you have a lot of options in your budget. My personal order of preference would be :

1. Figo - Awesome frugal engine, good mileage, nice built.
2. Ritz - Maruti's peace of mind, decent space, nice mileage.
3. Punto - Amazing handler at speeds (so for you if you are a cruiser).
4. Beat - Nice and peppy enough for city driving, but struggles at higher RPMs.

Have a TD of all and then list down the pros and cons for each. then compare them against your must have features and then compare with good to have features.

freakdude.

 

[Gurrala74]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Great suggestions like allways from you

However why u suggest a fabia when you tell people not to buy a polo ?

It's the same car with differnt desgin and it is as noisy as the polo .again only 3 cylinders only . Less features and not great interiors compared to polo .

How come spares and service is cheaper ? Infact skoda themselves are saying its being high because of low localization . And in a next refresh they will keep the localization high so it can be competetive . And what is so great about skoda badge ? it's less premiuim then VW which you seem to not suggest .

Suggesting a skoda fabia and not VW polo is very contradictory from your side dear .

Why I suggested Skoda Fabia Vs VW Polo, because

1. VW is still on the clouds of Europe with their sales approach,service approach,high priced product, waiting periods, spares availability, spares cost, service network. This I have a personal experience when we did a TD of Polo as well Vento last year when we finally bought a New ford fiesta for my friend which I told you in my other post. in comparison to this

Skoda is also a premium brand may be bit less than VW and same built like VW and their approach is very much improved than those days when I used to go along with my boss in a Octavia for service(This is was the same dealer in Hyderabad), now opened 3 sales and 2 service outlets in that one is really world class, though you do not buy a Skoda car, the sales approach, service approach is really good these days as we have also visited their one of the service center and they are really cool and made us to talk to Skoda Fabia owners and we took their feedback of their experience from past 3 years or so they say that lot is changed and service cost has come down, courtesy has gone up and spares are available off the shelf and cost has drastically come down. To prove this the SA has shown us the service bills of some 2 years back and service bills of present where I found there is a reduction of parts upto 40-60%.

VW Polo some how looks bit low on head room and does not look that spacious as Fabia.

Fabia is there in INDIAN market for some time and got a change in their engine from TD to soem CrTD which is more refined with bit less noise as I have checked both the versions. So it is a known devil than Polo

Though we have not bought any Skoda car, still I get calls from them telling me their updates of cars, any new arrival, any change in the specs, discounts all that and I feel happy for that though I am not their customer. To be frank when I drove Vento I got a feeling that I am driving a Auto and its roof is just touching my head and my legs touching steering column and for such car we had to wait for all most a 30 minutes for some body to attend us at showroom and another 30 minutes to take a TD and finally very recklessly they say wait for 4 to 6 months for that crab !! Where as I have a very good experience in taking TD of Fabia,Luara,Yeti, absolutely top notch approach and product too !!

Funny thing is that VW charge for its logo POLO and I felt better to get a free logo of Skoda !!

Hmmm I think I have explained you enough now, I am tired

 

[Raja]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Why I suggested Skoda Fabia Vs VW Polo, because

1. VW is still on the clouds of Europe with their sales approach,service approach,high priced product, waiting periods, spares availability, spares cost, service network. This I have a personal experience when we did a TD of Polo as well Vento last year when we finally bought a New ford fiesta for my friend which I told you in my other post. in comparison to this

Skoda is also a premium brand may be bit less than VW and same built like VW and their approach is very much improved than those days when I used to go along with my boss in a Octavia for service(This is was the same dealer in Hyderabad), now opened 3 sales and 2 service outlets in that one is really world class, though you do not buy a Skoda car, the sales approach, service approach is really good these days as we have also visited their one of the service center and they are really cool and made us to talk to Skoda Fabia owners and we took their feedback of their experience from past 3 years or so they say that lot is changed and service cost has come down, courtesy has gone up and spares are available off the shelf and cost has drastically come down. To prove this the SA has shown us the service bills of some 2 years back and service bills of present where I found there is a reduction of parts upto 40-60%.

VW Polo some how looks bit low on head room and does not look that spacious as Fabia.

Fabia is there in INDIAN market for some time and got a change in their engine from TD to soem CrTD which is more refined with bit less noise as I have checked both the versions. So it is a known devil than Polo

Though we have not bought any Skoda car, still I get calls from them telling me their updates of cars, any new arrival, any change in the specs, discounts all that and I feel happy for that though I am not their customer. To be frank when I drove Vento I got a feeling that I am driving a Auto and its roof is just touching my head and my legs touching steering column and for such car we had to wait for all most a 30 minutes for some body to attend us at showroom and another 30 minutes to take a TD and finally very recklessly they say wait for 4 to 6 months for that crab !! Where as I have a very good experience in taking TD of Fabia,Luara,Yeti, absolutely top notch approach and product too !!

Funny thing is that VW charge for its logo POLO and I felt better to get a free logo of Skoda !!

Hmmm I think I have explained you enough now, I am tired

Wow what a long post .

Unlike you I have not gone to any skoda dealership or checked service bills from owner .
Dealership and service experience is very city specific what is good in Mumbai can be worse in kolkata and excellent in hydrebad .

Rather then believing what the S.A says about parts and service I belive words comming from the horses mouth and I present you this
Skoda Fabia to be localised further, made cheaper in sales drive - Economic Times

Skoda Fabia to be localised further, made cheaper in sales drive - The Times of India

To be further clear the date of the article is 11.9.2012 .
So skoda themselves belive that there parts and cost of ownership is high

 

[Gurrala74]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Wow what a long post .

Unlike you I have not gone to any skoda dealership or checked service bills from owner .
Dealership and service experience is very city specific what is good in Mumbai can be worse in kolkata and excellent in hydrebad .

Rather then believing what the S.A says about parts and service I belive words comming from the horses mouth and I present you this
Skoda Fabia to be localised further, made cheaper in sales drive - Economic Times

Skoda Fabia to be localised further, made cheaper in sales drive - The Times of India

To be further clear the date of the article is 11.9.2012 .
So skoda themselves belive that there parts and cost of ownership is high

Then this is further good news and good that they are trying more and more to understand Indian customers and their thinking

I posted whatever I have seen and spoken at service centers with owners and looked into the real service bills, so they may look still expensive and further localisation is welcomed !!

You have a very good art Raja !! that is the reason you become a celebrity !!. See you have just touch a small part of my post about skoda localisation and left everything about Polo un-attended

 

[Raja]

re: Replacement for My Spark - The Search ends.. booked Figo Titanium (D) Kinetic Blue

Then this is further good news and good that they are trying more and more to understand Indian customers and their thinking

I posted whatever I have seen and spoken at service centers with owners and looked into the real service bills, so they may look still expensive and further localisation is welcomed !!

You have a very good art Raja !! that is the reason you become a celebrity !!. See you have just touch a small part of my post about skoda localisation and left everything about Polo un-attended

First iam not a celebrity atall ,and if I ever become 1 it will be only because of my talent in that given field and it has nothing to do with me posting here on the forum .
i just work on stage for my bread and butter like others in other respective fields .

Yes it's really a great news but only after 2014 .

Polo well who said its cheaper to maintain ? Who said VW has wonderful dealership expreince ? Kindly check my post in polo thread I said the dealership expreince is filmi and robotic .and polo will be allways expensive to maintain since it has less localization . If you want I can give you the link .

Both are devils and I won't personally buy their cars only for 1 reason that the localization is not more simple .
Whatever you said about VW is 100000% right I have not debated with you on that atall .
I was just curious to know why you suggest a skoda when you don't like VW . Because both are brands of the same company with same ideology . Same plus points and same negative points .

note - ( please a sincere heartfelt request to you kindly don't again bring my proffesision and what I do for living in such discussions since it has nothing to do with automobiles . stick only to what I post )