Please suggest the best petrol car in around 4 lacs

Hi

I am planning to buy first car. It is going to be a petrol hatchback. So far we are considering:

- A-Star VXI/ZXI

- i10 ERA/Magna 1.1

- WagonR Duo LXI

Considering it is going to be use mainly in city and sparingly on highway, moreover it should be maintenance free and spacious for a family of 4 and luggage.

Please suggest the best one even if it is missing in the list. Maruti and Hyundai is preferred as service network is better for them.

Hi Sid,

Remove A-star from your list and add Chevrolet Spark in your list. The best is Chevrolet Spark if you ask Value for money car. Maintenance free car and you dont often require a Service centre, Regular service is all you need and if a service centre is there in your city, just visit and ask few users the quality of service they are getting (depends on dealership) and if positive response is there, prefer a Spark.

Rule out A-Star, as it is not spacious/comfortable - and hardly has any luggage space.

Why WagonR DUO (LPG) - is your run substantially high?  LPG doesn't offer any significant savings.  You may consider/compare WagonR LXi with the other petrol cars short-listed by you.

i10 Magna 1.1 I think has been discontinued.  Magna is available in 1.2.  All in all, 1.2 (Magna) is a better than 1.1 (Era), WagonR (LXi) & Spark.

Have a look at the comparison - go through the Specifications, Features & All features.

Test-drive the cars with family.

Pankaj is right, Magna 1.1 is not available now. Only Era is available in 1.1 and the best model is Sportz but for Sportz you have to spend some extra money.

In my opinion, the best option is i10 and if you can increase your budget upto 4.5 lacs than consider i10 Sportz.

If 4lacs is your upper limit, Chevrolet Spark LT is better option as you are getting a car with almost similar features of i10 Sportz that too in the price range of 3.6 lacs on-road.

Sportz has better features & comes with Music System.  Many prefer Magna ahead of Sportz - so that they can retrofit better Music System - of their own choice.

The first car to go from that list is the A Star. I agree with Rajiv, include Spark in your list. For me, the clincher would be between the Spark and i10 as Wagon R is too old and outdated now. I would personally pick the i10 but the Spark is a worthy contender and please do check it out before taking a final decision.

Thanks to you all for the replies.

But the main thing I was liking with A-Start VXI and ZXI were the features which are not atll present in any other car of this range - ABS, Air Bags, CD player and so on.

i10 does not at all have features of AStar, in fact RITZ with a bit money more over sportz or Asta wins in feature lists. I am not sure about engine or maintenance or other technical details but feature wise, service availability Maruti seems to win the race.

A-star is a good car and personally I like the looks of the car. Its better than many Maruti Suzuki cars (Subjective) but A-star is not at all comfortable. Its a car for a small family of 2 + 2 (kids). Rear leg space is pathetic. Not comfortable for sure. Boot space is also not good.

Sid, if you want features than spend around 4.1 lacs on road & buy a Spark LT (Optional) with Alloys, ABS & Driver Airbag. MP3 player is also available with spark. I am using it and maintenance is not high and parts are cheaper. Recently, I had an accident and you can check detail Here.

I have seen an accident of i10 when speed I think was less than 20kmph. 800 guy left from there and i10 was in pathetic condition. Also, I have seen other i10 without bumper and really nothing behind that bumper to protect the car. Plastic parts only so incase of minor accident, loss will be huge as Insurance company will pay 50% only for plastic parts.

No question of Safety at all. i10 is pretty safe car. But I have seen that guy and really car was badly damaged. 

In your budget Spark is the best. i10 is another option you have . Both these cars are nice to drive in city . Better TD both these with your family members & decide.

I am concerned about service requirements of Spark and resale value, otherwise I don't have anything against it.

How about Ritz/Indica Vista Saffire if I can really stretch my budget?