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

Quite rightly said i guess. A thought was crossing my mind,I doubt the price hike for CNG and Diesel considering the majority of users being Auto wallas and Trucks and buses. If at all then it must be only substantial i guess. I personally dont mind a hike of 2-3 rupees but anything beyond that would be a complete mood spoiler. I hope the Govt understands the vitality of the issue. People might refrain from hoping good out of CNG conversions,They [Govt] at this point i think highly unlikely will increase the CNG price. Well anyway until then happy motoring. I will be buying a Diesel car in next 6 months for Dad.Lets see what options come up. Any plans that Maruti might be introducing the refaced Wagon R or other vehicles soon?[Diesel and petrol both].


Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

there is no need to think about performance a lot in this situation. petrol car with cng can work really good in this situation specially when A star kind of car equipped with K series .

I also have a plan to buy a car for wife for her daily travel to her office. its 14km far away but right now as office bus is coming to pick up so i am not in hurry till spark electric arrives. Reva could be good but it does not look so good. though performance is really amazing I mean 160 km distance in single charging @ 80 kmpl

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Krishna, have you calculated TCO afresh - with interest & resale?

Besides, I suggest... looking to the amount of travel your wife will be undertaking daily, I feel you should also take safety aspect into consideration - not ABS & Airbag - but at least the size & build-quality of the car.

Honesty is not a Spare Wheel that you pull out when in trouble. It's a Steering Wheel that keeps you on the right path throughout the life's journey.

Spark LPG, makes perfect sense to me. Since it is your wife, Spark is spot on!

You are very right Pankaj.

Safety is something we realise at the later end of the show.

Rather in todays traffic it should be the first priority.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

No one can beat Alto LXI with CNG in buying,running and owning economy.Someone said you will lose power,but there is an answer .put Lambda switch which controls swiching of fuel automatically and gives the petrol power at the starting push.It will cost 2k

Nipun whether you put Lambda or not doesnt matter if three cylinders are in point of discussion.Reason-well they dont have enough Space for CNG combustion and dont generate enough power from burning CNG which is felt at the drivers end as a powerloss no matter Lambda kicks in or not.

I have personally driven a complete kitted alto/800 for that matter and to my personal opinion i strongly refrain from going for CNG conversion in a 3 cylinder vehicle.

It doesnt work out that good.Engine life comes down drastically.

I have already discussed it earlier,Why that happens.

Its something like an overloaded vehicle where the engine doesnt have enough power to move swiftly,as a result the defects appear ealier than other engines with CNG[4 cylinder counterparts].

I really doubt your Quote that nothing can beat Alto with CNG.Wagon R/Santro does fail it in all aspects as far as economicaly speaking and performance with CNG conversion,Wagon r or Santro might be around 90 k pricier than Alto but overall performance is also something in question.

No one would like to drive a enormous power lacking vehicle[CNG converted Alto/800].

No offence to anyone please!

I have tested them thats why i am speaking on this.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Doc,you are a power hungry person like me.I like the power of my Santro but I do not bother about running cost and my Santro gives 10 km to a litre in mixed driving ,it is very peppy and beats all on the signals.Go for Santro,it has more pep than I10 hand that is why I bought it.

Krishna why have you aborted this thread?

Or is it post abortion neglected step child.LOLz

Just kidding,Wanted to know your take and recent developments in the grey matter.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Maybe Aby wins - CNG looks tempting. I am not able to digest the huge 'new car' related cost. But I realize, I can economize by using my Honda City instead for the purpose. My local movement needs are very limited, and I can make do with alternate arrangements.

I just calculated that 3 years fuel cost for CNG will come to be 137k (assuming 15 kmpkg and 22.1 Rs./Kg). Taking into account the conversion cost (~30k), it is 167k => ~4700/- per month. For comparison, at 15 kmpl, Alto would turn out to be ~290k over the same period.

Considering this is < Rs 2/km, and I don't carry any capital costs (other than the current EMI (groan!)) this looks tempting - only I lose my car! Any other way and it does not look remunerative to me owing to car capital costs.

Wotsay?