Pls recommend me a car

Hi there,

I am planning to buy my first car. I stay in mumbai and my daily travelling in city will be around 20 to 30 kms. Travelling will be mostly in city only and ocassionally longer trips. My budget is around 3lacs and can be extended till 3.5lacs. I am ok with new car or second hand provided it is not very old and  is in good condition. My requirements from a car are listed below in the order of importance, (1 being most important and so on). I am 5ft 10 inches tall, and I am currently single, so I will be alone driving this car. Also considering rise in fuel prices in future will it be advisable to go for LPG/CNG fitted cars  in Mumbai? Pls guide me. Thanks and Regards, Vinay

1. Fuel Economy (Most Imp)
   

2. Low maintainence

3. Comfort – basically Air conditioner

4.  Reasonable Resale Value

5. Value for money

6. Looks
   

Considering the budget of Rs.3.50 lac (on-road price) stated by you, and the other preferences, I would suggest Alto LXi - top version with AC & Power Steering.  It will cost Rs.2.95 lac (ex-showroom, Mumbai). 

Alto is most fuel efficient petrol car - it gives mileage of 15/17 in city & 20/22 on highway (depending upon driving conditions & style).  Like all Maruti cars, it has low maintenance & service cost. Resale value too is decent - is always in demand (considered to be best small family car). 

Interiors, exteriors & features are good enough for the price it comes at - it's definitely a VFM (value for money) 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.

1+ for the alto

Thanks Pankaj for a prompt reply. However, I have read few reviews about alto in which it was mentioned that the car is same as Maruti 800 and very sluggish with A.C. Also should I think of a second hand car with slightly more power than alto? how about second hand Indica DLE? /Santro/ Wagon R? Can you recommend me some models and how old should they ideally be? Also will appreciate if you can give your views on First choice which sells second hand cars, is their warranty reliable?  How is XETA in comparision to Alto?

Yes, Alto is basically an improved version of M800 with better interiors, exteriors & features, and with more power (9ps) & torque (3nm) - though the engine is same (796 CC).

All cars (especially in small segment) generally are slightly sluggish when driven with AC on and/or at full load.

I would recommend for new Alto ahead of 2nd hand cars short-listed by you - briefly, new is new, and besides, Alto serves your preferences well. It's a very successful/preferred small family car, and sells like hot-cake.

Xeta I did not recommend because, unlike your preference, it is not as fuel efficient as Alto - it gives 11/13 in city & 15/17 on highway. Besides, in aspects like maintenance & service cost as well as resale value (your other preferences), it isn't as good as Alto.  However, it's very spacious/ comfortable, has much better ride-quality / suspensions, built too is stronger and so is its longevity.

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.

Thanks again Pankaj. Actually I forgot to mention that I would like to keep my first car for 3/4 yrs max and sell it off, so should I still buy a new car? as a car normally depreciates faster in its first 2/3 yrs.

Also just for my knowledge could you pls tell me whether a petrol car has better resale value than diesel? and also which cars last long- diesel or petrol?

 Can you also if possible recommend me a car other than Alto which will be close to my requirements, I dont mind spending few thousand more, may be under 4 lacs. I liked the Indica DLE but not sure about its maintainence cost, is it substantially more than Alto?

In future my per day mileage may go upto 40kms, I want to know at what point one should prefer petrol over diesel?

Well, for your usage, the diesel car won't fit the economics associated. Diesel cars are more expensive upfront and if you don't have the usage, the additional price you pay is not justified.

For 4 lakhs, I can recommend you a lot of cars which would be

1. WagonR / Estillo

2. Santro

3. Spark

4. Indica Xeta

5. Palio Stile (slightly expensive).

My pick among the ones stated above would be the WagonR followed by Spark followed by Santro followed by Xeta.

Cheers,
K Prasad

Thank you Mr. K Prasad

Mr Prasad, My views on the cars that you mentioned, pls correct me if I am wrong and also if you can give some more info on the same.

1. Estilo is not selling much and it also as a low resale value, hence not a good car to go for. I had read that Maruti is planning to stop its production.
2. Spark- I am not sure about its reliability, resale value and its fuel efficiency, is it better than the others?

Estillo is not that bad - it has the same WagonR engine, transmission - it is a better looking WagonR. As suggested by you, yes the sales are low for Estillo - but, I doubt if Maruti would take it out so quickly - Sales are low only in Mumbai - In my recent trip to Hyderabad, it was there everywhere.

Spark is a good car - fuel efficiency is quite good - it has better build quality and interiors. Most of the people driving a Spark have consistently given me a good feedback about mileage and performance - there was only one case where the owner said that he is getting a mileage of 8 - Believe something wrong with the car or maybe he has wrong driving habits. Ideally, it should not deliver you a mileage of less than 12 - after the drive-in period. Maintenance is also not a major issue - there is a deal comming up from Chevy for maintenance of its cars - check it out.

Another thing - Please test drive all cars and then decide - it comes for free and you can take it as many times you want.