Owning an Ertiga from 5 months and clocked 13k with 70% on highways and 30% city driving.
Overall, i am very very happy with the every aspect of ertiga.
Comparing Ertiga and Xylo, i vote for Ertiga. I personally feel that Ertiga is a gud family car. I somehow have an taxi image on Xylo. Looks wise, the front view of Ertiga is not so great but side view is very gud. No offences but the back door of Xylo reminds me of a temple door.
Though i have many reasons to favour Ertiga, main reasons to avoid Xylo are its poor looks and lack of refinement. Refinement and looks made me come to a conclusion of Ertiga as a family car, Xylo as a taxi................No offences, its purely my view.
Here i am not getting much into the comparision as i have not used Xylo( except couple of times to tirupati). One thing i definitely agree is the bouncy ride on highways....we had atleast 2 members having severe motion sickness
Your choice ultimately depends on your requirement and Its purely up to what you like. Hence i am mentioning of what i liked in Ertiga
Engine & PowerPeople may complain about the under powered engine but for me i upgraded from a hatch with turbolag, i got used to tackle that and never felt under powered. My I20 was definitely a power horse but of course it was a 4 seater, Ertiga is a 7 seater. To my surprise, fully loaded Ertiga didn't have much of a difference on the perormance
Space: Though i am being a bit lengthy in this, i would like to share my views as space was being an important factor through out this thread.
I am 6.1 tall and never felt cramped in driving seat and 2nd row. Infact i was there on 3rd row for 350km( with 2nd row slided to my comfort). I never felt uncomfortable on third row, neither did the ones sitting in 2nd row complained about lack of space. When you are 5 and silde back the 2nd row completely, here you will fall in luv with this LUV. It may sound an exaggeration but to be frank while taking the TD, the comfort at this position drove me to confirm my choice.
I use the 7 seating occasionally( when i go to my home town, twice a month) and am very happy with the space/options. Previously we had to take both my Dad's car and my I20 if we had all had to move. With Ertiga, we move in single. Other than that, i use it as a caaaaar( nissan sunny style) with loads of boot( will remove the 3rd row headrests)
I beg to seriously differ about the space cruch at 3rd row.
Ride quality Ride quality is very good and am extremely happy with the maneuverability and handling. Driving it in Hitech city traffic in HYD for most of the week, i am very much happy with Ertiga
FE & costs Initially i was thinking of stretching my budget by a bit more and going for Innova( considering its unmatched comfort & durability). I am a bit heavy driver with upto 2.5 to 3k KM per month and hence ruled out Innova. So you might now guess my satisfaction levels of Ertiga's FE. On highway i get an average of 22, and city i get 16( inspite of hell lot of traffic).
Here i would like to mention a interesting aspect. My previous car was I20 Diesel magna which is an absolute power horse. On highways and Outer Ring Road of HYD, i used to clock 160 plus many a time. The FE was obviously lower. On ertiga, as i can see dynamic FE, i changed my driving habits and now very rarely cross 130. This benefited me either ways, Safety & good FE. I am very happy with this aspect too....i agree that any car with this feature would have done the same change.
Now, the aspect which i don't like on Ertiga.
The build quality is good but not upto the mark for a 11L price tag. Having owned an I20 before, i am somehow not 100% happy with the plastics
Turbolag is a bit which i wouldn't have preferred. In stop and go traffic, this is a bit clumsy. This was the main reason that i took 3 TD's before going with Ertiga. But as my driving is 70% on highway's( it's very good performer on highway - again, as i changed my driving habits, i am pretty happy with highway behavior) and it is not too much of an irritation, i am living with it without any serious discomfort.
One special thing to mention is previously when i was using I20, i rarely saw any one crossing me on highways). Now, its the other way round.....not that Ertiga isn't capable.....but it just changed me to a matured driver..Thanks to LUV