Small car + 2600 km/month + novice driver + Old Delhi traffic + lowest TCO

Hi guys, with my buddhi Honda city enduring forever, I thought I would never post in this forum for myself, but now some requirement has come up, so help me please.

My wife commutes 50 km/day to and fro, making it 100 km/day for weekdays. On weekends, she has to commute 70km/day to and fro, making it 140 km/day for weekend days. She does this by public transport, which is turning more and more difficult with each passing day. Adding fuel to the fire is the recent decision by Delhi Govt. to hike both metro and DTC buses fares insanely to almost double that of earlier fares.

I want her to be independent and more mobile then currently, but there are some issues in her taking my Honda City along - 1.ROI - at 15km/l (or potentially less at wifey's hands) of petrol, City is not cost effective. it is also wide and long, which she finds difficult to judge and drive. Last, but not the least, her taking the  car leaves me carless, and I won't be able to maintain my girth anymore in that setting.

I want a suggestion for a small car that would be inexpensive upfront, with good FE so that the total cost of ownership over a period of 3+ years turns out to be the minimum.

Most of this 2600 km/month is on good roads (saving grace) and highways, (say 2k km) and just a little bit of the dreaded wiggling in traffic of old Delhi.

I am open for CNG but factory fitted, and not open for LPG, as no fuel station nearby for LPG, and savings with LPG are really questionable.

Amenities wise, the car can be spartan but should cushion the road well, and seats should have good lumber support.

Usually my wife will be the only traveller, but rarely, I and our 2 kids would hop in. Space-wise, probably no need to rule out anything.

Look forward to your suggestions to zero on the best with above requirements. I do not have a pressing need to buy a car today or tomorrow, so I can really take a well deliberated and informed decision. Thanks in advance!

Dear Krishna,

I have HC (10th ed) & have Wagon R (5yrs). My drives WR ost of the times & drives HC when I'm out of town. We were planning to buy new car to replace WR. So we TD GP MJD EP, Ritz, Swift (my bro-in-law it so we TD his car), try to TD I20 but dealer could not offer TD of 1.4D version as was not available. We even tried SX4.

After going thro' all this reading all threads on GP we have booked GP MJD EP & waiting for delivery.

I find the quite comparable with my HC for road stability & driving pleasure. The features given are very good & useful.

I checked with ownership cost (cost for ASS, accident etc) & to my surprise is very much comparable with Maruti & cheaper than Hundia I20 &just can't compare it with HC as you know.

After driving it I feel I don't mind swapping my HC with my wife for good & equvalent driving pleasures.

I20 is good car with lots of features but the equivalant version is costlier.

Swift have waiting period of 3-4months for any variant also have less boot space.

Ritz diesel is not that stable (Ritz petrol is good car but we didn't like it's looks) with less boot space.

SX4, my wife was not comfortable driving the tall boy instead of HC.

So these are my working & experiences & finally we went for GP.

Take TD of all cars but I feel GP is good value for money.

@ krishna,

wat is ur budget to buy a new car?

if budget is not an issue than would suggest between punto diesel & i20 diesel. i20 is on the expensive side but punto is cheap & great value for money.

it has very good features in the top end model & has one of the best drivng dynamics.

Sorry guys, for not being clear even with my longish first post.

My emphasis was on lowest TCO in 3 years -> includes car price, fuel and service for three years. I am not confined by set categories/segments, and I am not looking for any fancy features, just good lumber support and maneuverability - useful in the Old Delhi traffic scene.

If I start off with a expensive-ish car, the total will not be lowest. So what are my options?

I plan to make this into a scientific exercise, with on-road prices, typical fuel and service costs included, so we can hope for crisp results.

I20 goes out the door just because it is an expensive car to start with. 

ok,

so than u can go with indica vista quadraget or ritz diesel.

 tHE SMALLER THE CAR THE CHEAPER IT WILL BE in short and long term.Go for new Estilo and put CNG or go for factory fitted Alto.These cars will be easy to drive and park in the Old Delhi areas and wife will be happy driving these in traffic.Or take the Ritz Diesel if you want to move up a segment

Please let me know if my assumptions are ok. I am making similar comparison with Alto CNG now

Car                      Indica Vista Terra Quadrajet  
run in 3 years   93,600.00     at 2600 km/mo (ref 1st post)
Mileage                       15.00     Am I right?
Local fuel price              34.50     Diesel IOC site reference
Oil changes each 5k        1,000.00 
total oil change cost     18,720.00 
no. of services @ 5k          19.00 
Services average           1,500.00 
One set of tyres          12,000.00     Michelin decent 13/14"
Total upfront:           463,305.00     Carwale indicated
Total fuel expenses      215,280.00     for 93600 km 3 yrs
Services expenses         28,500.00     at 1500/service for 19
Second year insurance      8,441.25     75% of first premium
Total cost of ownership  727,526.25     Can go any lower??

Dear Krishna,

If your wife is driving your HC even ocassionally she would not like other cars but ask her to try GP & she will like it over cars as was the case with my wife (I still say I20 good car but costly on road as well for ASS). GP servicing intervals are 5000kms then every 15000kms. Also currently they are offering 1ts yr insurance free + extended warrant 2yrs free + some other freebees giving you cool 30-40K price discount. Mainatanance cost is one of the cheapest & very much comparable with Maruti. Diesel gives you very good milage & there not much difference (only 50-60K) between petrol & diesel versions of Fiat. GP MJD is really value for money. If it is ok you can go for GP MJD EP & I'm sure your wife will be happy to drive her car than asking for your HC. 

This is the data for Alto LX BS-III

Car Maruti Alto LX BS-III  
Total km run in 3 years           93,600.00  at 2600 km/mo (ref 1st post)
Mileage                                       15.00  Am I right?
Local fuel price                             47.70  Petrol IOC site reference
Oil changes each 5k                 1,000.00  Am I right?
total oil change cost                18,720.00  
no. of services @ 5k                      19.00  
Services average                         900.00  
One set of tyres                      10,000.00  Michelin XM1+ 12"
Total upfront:                       278,570.00  Carwale indicated
Total fuel expenses               297,648.00  for 93600 km 3 yrs
Services expenses                   17,100.00  at 900/service for 19
Second year insurance               6,297.00  75% of first premium
Total cost of ownership           609,615.00  Can go any lower??

Alto City mileage will be more than 16+ for sure.