Help me in buying a best HatchBack

Hi Friends,

Im planning to get a new car (hatchback) for the first time. Please help in selecting the right one.

The first question wud be Petol/Diesel?  My annual usage wud be less than 10k (including extra miles). So,  i hav decided to go with petrol. Any suggestion around this?

My budget would b 4.5-5.5L (may drag till 5.8-6, for  best models)

As per my knowledge, i have done some research and gathered few model that suit my needs.

1. Nissan Micra XL Variant - (5.6L)

2. Hyundai i20 Magna - (5.8L)

3. Fiat punto 1.2 emotion (5.7L)

4. Volkswagen polo trendline (5.4L) (will consider comfortline, 6L)

i'm  bored with Swift/Ritz looking at plenty on road. (Im looking for a fresh look).

i10/Figo (> 5L)

Another thought in my mind, as i'm willing to spend 5-6L, should i get  above mentioned petrol version or should i go for medium variant Diesel which come under this budget?

Please share your experience in choosing the best one.

Regards,

Veeren

Veeren, You can also consider Hyundai Accent. It has proven itself and is around 6lacs on road in Hyd with all the bells and whistles.

I would not recommend diesel for you since the maintainance of the car will be high for the usage of yours.Diesel is a strict NO NO. For Example, SX4/Swift petrol battery costs you Rs. 3800/- whereas a Swift Diesel Battery costs you around Rs.9000/- The tires tend to wear faster because of the heavy engine. Also the sparks needs to be changed much earlier than for the petrol versions. Everything apart, the initial Drag that you have on the diesels is surely a no no since this is your first car.

Hyundai has real good cars. Check them out. You should look at i20 since it gives you a feel of Big Car while being a hatchback. i10 is also very peppy and fun to ride but then for the budget that you have, i would recommend i20 for its sheer comfort on highways.

Nissan has a known low end torque concern with many. This was a similar concerns in the initial Beat that was up for sale. Fiat is a sure No for me(personally) because of the service network and surely Fiat is not good to be your first car. I personally love Fiat when i was in South Africa. But then this car has been brutally beaten on the service network part. I know TATA is supporting them, but trust me, it is not the way Maruti or Hyundai treats the cars.

Thanks ya!

So, your suggestion is around hyndai accent/i20, will consider them. I understand the pain of fiat services.

Im in favour of micra, coz nissan has lauched the first ever hatchback in india. I read that they has refined to 3 cylinder to improve the fuel efficency and performance. Look is also fresh. Im still awaiting for the indian users reviews with their experiences. Please share your knowledge abt micra.

 In fact, i have started researching with a budget of 4-5L, i had to extend by buget with 0.5L to include these models.

Besides that, can you list few good hatchbacks for 4-5 buget?

Thanks,

Veeren

Why don't you check out Chevy Beat? You can get the LT variant for 4.6 lac OTR.

I had gone through the reviews.

Pro: Different look, loads of feature with good price tag,VFM

Cons:  Cannot accommodate 5 ppl , Chevy services, Resale value

Hence, it was ruled out

I had gone through the reviews for Beat.

Pro: Different look, loads of feature with good price tag,VFM

Cons:  Cannot accommodate 5 ppl , Chevy services, Resale value

Hence, it was ruled out

The days of three cylinders are passe'. Nowadays 4 cylinder engines are the norm. Nissan is palming off a 3 cylinder engine in India to save on costs. 

Nissan is an awesome car to own but not in India right now. Having said that, we should not under estimate Nissan. It has proven its ground in the west and Micra is a time tested car. The fourth generation is what we are seeing in India now.

I would love to go for Nissan if i would have had another year to look at the acceptance in Indian Context. For example, Chevy is now out with awesome products and the one which i love is Chevy Cruze. Its an amazing ride to have with all whimps and fancies one can expect. Trust me, if Honda would have this car under their flag ship, it would not have been sold anything less than 20lacs OTR. Chevy is giving you that at 15lacs on road(LTZ). Coming back to Micra, i expect that the engine should prove itself and more than engine, the service should prove that it is capable of handling an indian's expectation and that is where the key to success for Nissan in  the Indian Market is.

I would strongly suggest you to hang on to Micra for more time before jumping onto it. Also the reviews i have seen show that the car is sluggish. The same was the problem with Beat. I was told this has been fixed but did not get time to test drive that again.

Coming to the three cylinder/four cylinder pot. It should not make much of a difference unless you are wanting to do some serious business of testing cars. Maruti's Astar, Wagon R, Zen Estilo, Alto K10 run on a three cylinder pot and they are doing good. I do agree that the NVH are pretty smooth on a four cylinder. Also though earlier cars used 3 Cylin, the one's that come now are much more advanced in terms of technology and performance and at the same time give amazing fuel economy.

Joel - Diesels need frequent SPARK changes?? I thought Diesel has spontaneous ignition - no spark plugs in Diesels, the injection itself causes ignition, because the air compressed is superhot. Am I missing something??

Joel, isn't Accent a diesel as well? I think there is no petrol variant for accent.

I would like to comment on Petrol vs Diesel battle in this scenario that Veeran has presented.

His monthly running is 10000km/year which means less than even 1000km/month.

At this rate, it does not make sense to go for diesel. BUT, He has also mentioned that he is willing to go for a diesel with lesser features. e.g. He is ready to buy Swift LDi(base variant diesel) instead of Swift VXi(middle variant petrol). In this example, he is happy with lower features of LDi so no loss in going by diesel here. "COST OF OWNERSHIP(fuel+spare parts+service)" of a diesel is always lower than Petrol.