Best Hatchback For Long-Term Use?

[nevinpowers]

thew punto 1.4 for me. the best petrol car for me is the jazz but honda has priced it was beyond what its actually worth. i myself have a punto 1.4 and its sweet. dont expect it to be a rocket cause maruti's k series 1.2 would give the very same feel. but why wait six months for a car?
i don't know about the 2nd hand though. i know absolutely no one who has bought a second hand punto. punto to me is a lovely car and if a person has sold it then it might mean there is something wrong with the car.

 

[il_commendatore]

Another issue with the Swift,apart from the long waiting period is the fact that,say if we plan on selling the car 4-5 years down the line,might be that the new swift would already be in the second sale market.Wouldn't that bring down the value of the current swift say 4-5 years from now ?

From a few sources i got the prices for the Vista90.Its priced approx around 6-6.3.Worth it ?

Our first car is a Linea (I forced dad to go for it :P) its a good car,apart from the few well known issues it has.So have 2 Prancing Horses in the same garage,would it be a good idea ? Frankly,I don't know.

But jokes apart.I heard the Punto has some niggles.Can GP owners enlighten me about the same.

Last but not the least,out of the cars i have mentioned.What's the order of preference that you would have ?

 

[Zinam]

From the cars you shorlisted. My opinions below

Fabia - Gem of small cars, but dont expect any performance out of it.
Punto - VFM, High speed handling & unleashed performance 1.4 engine :)
Swift - Too Old, stay away or wait for 2010 Swift
Polo - Great car, but noisy petrol engine. Long waiting periods
Figo - Best VFM hatch
Vista90 - Hmm.. TATA car, would be better if u go for diesel. No petrols from TATA :)

I would recommend you to take a look at New Fabia & Polo.

Both cars are really good choices & you can stay away from 2 prancing horses which is always better :)

If you still can't ressist buying one, Punto is class leading when it comes to unleashed performance.

 

[nevinpowers]

@ il_comm, have you decided whether to buy a first hand or second?
i don't think the resale of the swift is such an issue. and mind you, same can be the case with every other car, especially indica. i've never considered it as a good car, since a friend of mine as a workshop and he says 90% of the cars he get is indica[the older version].
it would be great if you can specify the amount you are willing to spend. and about the niggles i'm clueless. i have a problem with the floor mat, and sometimes i wish the boot had a door[i.e with the handle and lock] and my bro sometimes tell me he has problem with the visibility at the back end. the rear view seems to be fine for me though. and then there is the tata fiat service team, which is renowned for its inefficiency.

 

[raj_5004]

why is nobody recommending the Polo 1.6 or i10 kappa2, since he needs a petrol car? its a gem of an engine.

my choice would be in the following order:
1) Polo 1.6
2) i10 kappa2
3) Ritz (instead of swift, since its for your dad!) Ritz petrol does not have a waiting period.
4) Punto 1.4

I would avoid the vista & fabia for many reasons.

 

[il_commendatore]

Zinam,my driving would be mix of city and highway.So i am bit skeptical about going for either the Polo or Fabia because of their underpowered engine.I guess,same would go for the Figo.

So that forces me to bring the Swift and the Vista into the picture,despite the valid issues that you have mentioned.

Any idea as to when the New Swift could be launched ?

Nevin,It is going to be a first hand buy.As for the budget,could be stretched to 5.9,on road.

I did do a bit on number crunching and basically split the car into two groups

1) With ABS and W/o Airbags (Off-road prices)

Aura (Vista90) = 5.20 (approx.)
Vxi ABS = 4.93
Magna = 5.20
GP Emotion = 5.63
Fabia Ambiente = 4.69

Aura ABS,comes with ABS and a driver Airbag.Magna,even though it does not provide ABS nor Airbags it could fit into this category only because of its price.

Whereas,the Fabia provides driver Airbag but NO ABS.

2) With ABS and Airbags (Off Road Prices)

Aura+ =5.77
Zxi =5.28
Sportz =5.62
Emo PK =6.24
Elegance =5.20

This is basically pitting the high end models of each car (apart from the i20) against one another.All of them come and ABS with Dual Airbags.

Now the important question,barring the engine performance,After Sale Service and other factors.If i were to ask you guys,to pick one car from each group just for its VFM and the features that it provides.What it would be ?

Everyone's opinion would be of great help for me in choosing the car.So please drop in your thoughts,fellow members.

 

[il_commendatore]

Raj,the car is for me.Dad uses the Linea.

I have been assured by Maruti dealers here that i would get a Vxi with OR without ABS within 4 weeks and max. 5 weeks.Worth the wait,members ?

My driving would be 1-2 times a week in the bumper2bumper traffic of Mumbai with the occasional outing to Lonavla,Mahableshwar on Sundays.So i personally wouldn't go for the Ritz because of its lack of space.

We are a family of 4.My mom,dad,me and our dog.He is the most dreaded person you want to be sitting with in the back-seat because he likes to hop around on the back seat.He won't sit quite for one single moment.

 

[Akash]

My choice in the following order:
1. Punto
2. Swift
3. Figo
4. Vista 90HP, rather go for a Punto!

3) Ritz (instead of swift, since its for your dad!) Ritz petrol does not have a waiting period.
.

The car will be driven by him and not by his dad.

 

[raj_5004]

Oops, i misread that. thanks akash.

then the swift instead of the Ritz!

 

[nevinpowers]

why is nobody recommending the Polo 1.6 or i10 kappa2, since he needs a petrol car? its a gem of an engine.
.

he is got a budget that below six and would want a reasonable mileage.

@il_ , punto 1.4 emotion is what i have and i regret not having spend a little more and getting the e+. its not just the air bags. there is climate control,alloy wheels,blue and me etc. and the car costs something next to 6 lakh 50 on road. compare that to the 6 10 for emotion and e+ is a great buy.

 

[cooldhaya]

Out of your list:

Polo- A classy car with good interiors and space.

Fabia- Go for this straightaway if space is your main requirement! Extremely spacious but A.S.S is a concern!

Swift- New Swift maybe launched anytime now. But if you like it , go ahead with it! No fear of re-sale value of a Maruti! But the car is not as spacious , has a small boot and rear seats are a little cramped.

Punto-The best of the lot! VFM , perfect handling and style!


Vista- I would never recommend a TATA to anyone.


Figo- Again a great car , but since your budget is good you can ignore this.


i10- A great VFM car again but highway handling is not great! Infact most of the Hyundai cars are not great handlers in highways!

i20- If you plan to spend 6.5Lakhs on road , do consider this too!


My pick , Punto! Great VFM buy and no problem in having two cars belonging to the same manufacturer! Our member Raj has told his neighbour owns three Innova's!!

 

[il_commendatore]

That was pretty comprehensive cooldhaya.Thanks for your input.

Today i visited the Skoda and the Tata showrooms for the Fabia and Punto respectively.

Skoda 1.2 MPI Elegance (Top end,Petrol) is 6.63 on-road.Plus he assured a discount of around 15k.

How would you rate the 1.2 of the Fabia ? And is the 1.2 a better performer in the Fabia or Polo ? Coz even the top end version of the Polo comes around 6.6 approx.

As for the Punto.I guess you are talking about the 1.4 variant.The Emotion Pack of this one comes around 6.65.

Whereas the 1.2 comes around 5.44.

So,if i were to put out a straight out battle between the top end versions of the Polo,Fabia and the Punto.The Punto wins hands down,eh ?

And guys about the After Sale Service fellow members are talking about.Especially w.r.t TATA and Skoda.

Well,our pervious car was an Indigo LX TDi 2005 model.80k km's of running we just sold it off for 1.8 lakhs.The car was in top notch condition and it was well maintained by the TATA service center.Each niggle was sorted out each time the car went into the garage.
The same goes for our current Linea.The servicing has been top notch.Each issue has been attended to very well and never have we faced any issues.

Coming to the Skoda.A friend of mine owns a Superb and an Octavia.When he was about to book the Superb,even i warned him about the dismal After Sale Service,but he went ahead and bought it.He is happy with both his cars and might even end up buying the Yeti very soon

 

[Akash]

Since you look to be happy with the performance of Punto, i would suggest you to go with it. The Fabia looks a bit dated to me, and Polo, you may go for it, but if i would have been at your place i would have surely gone in for Punto.

 

[amiti]

So which car has been finalized? Or are you still searching for the perfect car? If you really want to buy a Fabia, do buy 1.6 only as other variants have smaller engines and run out of steam on highways.

 

[Akash]

So which car has been finalized? Or are you still searching for the perfect car? If you really want to buy a Fabia, do buy 1.6 only as other variants have smaller engines and run out of steam on highways.

+1. Fabia1.6 is the only exciting variant. The 1.2TDI has serious lag while the 1.2 Petrol is just decent.