Finally a new car to replace Safari (Booked Tata Aria!)

[cooldhaya]

Yes guys finally we have decided to sell the Safari and go for a brand new car replacing it. Since its going to replace the Safari , it has got to be comfortable and spacious in highways runs too.

Your Budget- I would say a floating budget between 15-25Lakhs. If we find any car which suits our needs then we are happy to pick it.


Your Location-Chennai


Top 5 Priorities- Comfort and Safety(dad's requirement)
Features , decent FE , good boot space and not so expensive maintenance(my requirement)


Monthly Running-Approx 1000km a month


For Which Purpose- Daily commuting to construction sites( poor roads) , Long trips too!


Max. Seating Capacity-4


Priority of Fuel Type- Strictly diesel and MT!


Body Type- SUV(dad's choice) Sedan(my choice).


As you can see me and my dad have different requirements but our common requirements are comfort( remember all of us in our family are tall) , safety( by safety means a sturdy body unlike Innova's wafer thin body).

Cars Considered(my choices):
1. VW Jetta


My dad's choices:
1.Chevy Captiva
2.Nissan X-trail

Here are a list of cars i rejected:

1.Toyota Fortuner- Huge waiting period and interiors and features not very impressive for a car worth that price.

2.Corolla Altis Diesel- I liked the car but its not comfortable enough for a tall guy like me.

3.Skoda Laura- Actually i loved everything about the car except for Skoda's poor reputation in A.S.S and a noisy engine! My dad also rejected as its a Skoda!

4.Skoda Superb- Excellent car but no MT! We want only MT! And also again no Skoda from my dad!

5.Chevy Cruze- I loved the looks of this car and the upmarket interiors. The front seats are very comfortable but the back seats are pretty cramped just like my Verna , ruled out!

6. Nissan Teana- No petrol mill , i loved the car actually! It was so comfortable even for a tall guy like me.

7.Ford Endeavour- Again the 3.0L engine is having only AT. But actually i din like the car at all!

And now i will tell the reason for shortlisting the above cars:

1. Nissan X-trail: Quite a gem of a car. I had a chat with Zinam regarding my dilemma and he only suggested me check out the X-trail too! The reception was good from the dealer and we were offered a TD immediately! As we got only an AT for TD i din drive it as i was not familiar driving an AT and din want to risk it. The suspension was great and the engine was ultra-smooth and refined! It had sun-roof and 6 airbags! The driver who drove the car floored the pedal in an empty stretch and the needle was above 120kmph in no time!

Now the only problem is Nissan's service back-up and at 29lakhs OTR for the top-end model its exceeding our budget slightly. My dad is ready to pay the extra amount too but am worried about the service back-up and am not too impressed about the looks of the X-Trail!

2.Chevy Captiva- This car retailing around the same price of the fortuner has extra features and also has upmarket interiors when compared to the Fortuner. But again GM'S service back-up is questionable here. The OTR pricing is around 24Lakhs for the new Captiva Xtreme which comes with Sun-roof too!

3.VW Jetta- Now this is one am car in love from the first time i checked it out! Has got upmarket interiors and the features and specs list also is impressive! The boot space is also adequate and it seats even a tall guy like me at the rear pretty comfortably! Had a TD yesterday night in the highways and i was like WOW after the TD! The suspension was like a water-bed and the pick-up and speed was excellent. In no time i reached 120kmph without straining the engine at all! There is that initial turbo-lag at the lower RPM'S like all diesels but once past that the car just zooms away.

The 16" alloy wheels provided adequate grip and i cornered even at 120kmph and i was surprised to see the car going strong! The steering response is good even at high speeds. And this engine is better refined than the Laura even at high speeds. And the GC at 155mm is pretty decent!

And at almost 19Lakhs OTR it is the cheapest of the lot and looks to satisfy all our requirements.

So i guess you must have found out that am bowled over by the Jetta and we are looking forward to it.

But now i don want to hurry. My questions are:

1.What about the re-sale value of Jetta being a VW?

2. What about VW'S service back-up?

3.Are the spares of VW costly? We are ready to pay a periodic maintenance bill of around 9-10k for every 15k kms!

4.What about the FE of the Jetta? Is it decent enough?

5. And finally when is the new Jetta expected next year? Will this further lower the re-sale value?

My other question is , is there any other car which is expected to be launched soon which fits my requirements and budget? I can wait sometime but as people say" MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES" am not ready to wait too long as i want to buy a car when my dad is in the mood! I can wait maximum of maybe 2-3 months!

So guys is the Jetta really worth it? Or is there any problem with the Jetta or VW in general? Or is it worth waiting for some other car to be launched?

And about the availability of the Authorized service centers we have TATA , Hyundai ,Ford ,Skoda , Toyota , Maruti , Nissan , Mercedes and VW all within a radius of 5km from my home!

Looking forward to your suggestions and answers guys!

 

[raj_5004]

if i was in your place, i would listen to my heart rather than my brain & buy the captiva.

 

[350Z]

Congratulations first of all. A wise decision to upgrade from Safari, You have already done an extensive research, and Jetta is a good deal. Top-end Comfort line is loaded with all the bells and whistles but when your usage is largely going to be in construction areas with rugged and muddy terrain, better opt for another SUV which comes with go-anywhere capabilities and sheer road presence as standard.

As you are already having a good experience with Verna, I’d recommend waiting for Hyundai Santa-Fe which is launching this October. Its expected price tag is somewhere Rs.22 Lakhs, and buying another Hyundai could make you avail a loyalty bonus too. Else, if you are actually keen on getting a saloon, I think even BMW 3’s Corporate Edition falls near that budget.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[350Z]

4.Skoda Superb- Excellent car but no MT! We want only MT! And also again no Skoda from my dad!

Just for clarification, Skoda Superb is available in Manual Transmission. Link.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[RSM]

I agree with your dad's choice, it should be a SUV/MUV. Since its has go to bad roads, construction sites etc., sedan will be difficult to maintain. But Sedan will give you more comfort.

My vote for Captiva.

BTW, tata is launching Aria, so you can wait for sometime. But I am not sure, with your experience, you would buy any Tata's product.

 

[sriharsha]

congrats on the purchase secision senior. you got a very good budget but sadly you have rejected all the cars which i would have asked you to buy.
anyways. since the car will be driven to construction sites too, i would never ever suggest a sedan as most of the times, at the construction sites, the road would never be existing at all. so what you need is a capable SUV.
the fortuner would have been a great choice if the waiting period would have been less. but seeing the fate of owners standing in long Q's for the deliveries i would second your idea of dropping it from the altrenatives.
so the other optons which may be available to you are the santa fe and the aria. but i am not the right person to comment about the performance,features and all those stuffs of these cars.
well coming back to the vehicles listed by you, then i would any day pick up the captiva. i recently did a TD of the captiva(auto) and did the that flooring the pedal thingy in an open stretch. and believe me the car was faster than a space ship. it was just flying.
so you now have got decide between all these SUV's and make a final decision.
just to remind you again, no sedans please.
happy buying.

 

[Akash]

Congrats Dhaya.
Looks like you have already done a lot of homework on this. Now coming to your choice, i feel if you can wait for 2-3months then checking out SantaFE would be a wise move.
Also Chevrolet Captiva would be a good option, but it looks a bit dated.
Btw why no mitsubishi on your list?A.S.S.?
Also since the car has to cover more of uneven terrains i would strongly suggest you to remain away from sedans.

 

[type-r]

Congrats on your decision to change your safari. First of all, say a big no to sedans since you have mentioned that the vehicle will be taken to construction sites. So stick to SUVs only.
Among the SUVs, pick the Captiva. I absolutely love that car. In fact, it could be even my next car. About the X-Trail, it is also quite good and you have mentioned its main drawback- price. It is quite expensive and also as you have mentioned that A.S.S is still unknown. So the Captiva from me.

 

[sriharsha]

i think surender's dad owns a captiva. i think he should be able to help you out with all those technical things.

 

[350Z]

Btw why no mitsubishi on your list?A.S.S.?

Unfortunately, No Diesel available in Mitsu.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[cooldhaya]

@ Raj My heart is actually rather set on the Jetta!

@ 350Z Hey that the petrol in MT , we want a diesel with MT. Yeah i am waiting for the new Sonata(i was informed by zinam a new one is coming) and the Santa-Fe for now! I think the OTR price of the 320d is around 33Lakhs which is slightly above our limits!

@ RSM No way we are going in for another TATA after having such horrible experience with them.

@ Sriharsha Thank you junior but we are not interested in buying another TATA car for sure atleast for the next 5 years! Yeah am waiting for Surendar's inputs.

@ Akash Yeah mitsubishi is out of my list because of their A.S.S. Though i have their Authorized service station pretty near to my home am not ready to take that risk! And There is no diesel available in Mitsubishi right? Yes i too feel i will wait for the Santa-Fe.

@ Archit I too love the X-trail except for its price. Its almost 5Lakhs costlier than the Captiva and offers only 4 extra airbags!

@ All I suggested Captiva to my dad, but he is not keen or confident about Chevy's service too! He is actually still hooked on to the Fortuner but i don want to wait a year for a car which looks bad inside and no features too! My dad for now is not convinced with any of the cars other than Fortuner!


And regarding the rugged terrains and roads and GC issues. My Verna has a GC of 190mm and with fully loaded tools and materials in the boot it still went well in those roads. Jetta has a GC of 152mm and i was told by the dealer irrespective of the load in the car the GC will not lower below 150mm. So i guess it should also handle well in those roads!


My dad was also actually okay with the Jetta but today morning he casually had a chat with another driver of a Jetta. That driver has said that the FE is poor with only 8kmpl in City and 10kmpl in highways. And also spares availability is limited and it will take atleast 15 days for the spares to arrive!

I said he is a driver and you know how a driver will drive! And even TATA'S spares arrive a lot delayed than expected then that's not an issue. And regarding the FE , after some googling and reading some user reviews from Chennai Jetta users i came to know that in bumper to bumper traffic the Jetta 2.0L Comfortline delivers 10-11kmpl and in highways its almost 15kmpl which i would say is pretty decent for a car of that size!


You might feel am a little biased towards the Jetta but seriously am hooked to the Jetta. It has the interior quality fit and finish of a German , decent looks , huge boot , decent FE , good comfort , and good features and specs. The Jetta has all that am looking for and also that VW brand value!

Is Jetta really a bad choice or not worth enough for the money?

 

[Akash]

Jetta is a fine choice if your dad has no probs in taking it to those sites. But when you have to take the cars to construction sites, wont the GC be an issue?

Unfortunately, No Diesel available in Mitsu.

Drive Safe,
350Z

Oh yes,i just realised it.

 

[*Arkin_Young*]

After all that I've read, the X-trail seems your most viable option, IMO. Go in for it.

 

[Arun]

I'd say, the Captiva is for you! You shouldn't worry about the after sales, you've been to one of the worst (read TATA). Remember Chevy has a considerable stake in the market. Considering the waiting for the Fortuner, Chevy is very very keen to capture the market. The after sales isn't as big a issue as Volkswagen.

Also, if I'd be in your place, I'd close my eyes and pick the Captiva. I love that car!!

Its upto you!!

Besides, I hope we aren't confusing you further!!

 

[cooldhaya]

@ Akash As i said before 152mm of GC is really sufficient for the roads in sites. Well but needs extra care while driving in bad roads. And BTW i was told by the dealer that Jetta has a complete cover beneath the floor , and so if the car scrapes below only the cover will take the damage and not the car itself.

@ Arkin The X-trail seems a bit too costly and over-priced IMO. The Captiva Xtreme has almost all the features except the curtain air-bags present in the X-trail.

@ Arun Well if its going to be a SUV i too prefer the Captiva over the Fortuner! Well but am worried about the A.S.S of Chevy. We had a very bad experience with TATA and we don want it to continue with Chevy too. And besides i hardly find Captiva's on road leave alone the new Captiva Extreme , i have not seen one till now!

And no buddy no confusions the competition is between the Jetta and the Captiva(my choices). Dad's choice , still the Fortuner!

Well the problem with both my choices is the reliability , spares availability and maintenance costs!