[INDIA]Which is the best all around performing CAR..

[Shaan Shar]

Hi All,

I am planning to buy a CAR with budget around MAX 15 Lakhs. But I need your kind advice which 1 should I opt.

Actually some major concerns are:

1. Max Mileage

2. Looks

3. Smooth Drive.


This is my first car, So I am don't every point while buying CAR..There I need your helps..Could you please Tell me which more factors should we need to think, and yes ofcourse which CAR should be preferred..
[ September 26, 2006: Message edited by: Ankur Sharma ]

[MInu]

Wht abt Skoda octavia?

[Bert Bates]

I'm not sure about the weather where you live, but I'm totally sold on all-wheel drive cars!

[Shaan Shar]

Ok Fine I have changed the Title of Thread.. Now it seems to be more specific..

[Manish Hatwalne]

Visit team-bhp.com for more information. "The Best" is a relative term - you need to give us few parameters like budget, prefernces/class (SUV, mid-size, small car etc) befor we could give some useful inputs.

Honda City is a good car and so is Merc and you can import BMW as well; but still Alto/Santro are the highest selling smalll cars in India - so you see it depends!

- Manish

[Mani Ram]

Fuel economy: Can't beat Skoda Octavia
Looks: Highly subjective. This is something that [i]you[i/] need to decide.
Smooth Drive: Corolla. But Octavia is excellent too.

In short, I would second Vinod's suggestion. I'm impressed with Skoda Octavia, especially the one with the Diesel engine. There are a lot of variants available. I'm not aware of the current prices, but I think the onroad price of the high end model ( L & K 1.9 Tdi, I guess) should be around 16 Lakhs.

But one point you need to consider is the service - check with the Skoda owners in your city about the quality of service they get from the dealers. From what I heard from my friend, the service quality is far below the standards (in Bangalore).

[Shaan Shar]

Originally posted by Mani Ram:
Fuel economy: Can't beat Skoda Octavia
Looks: Highly subjective. This is something that [i]you[i/] need to decide.
Smooth Drive: Corolla. But Octavia is excellent too.

In short, I would second Vinod's suggestion. I'm impressed with Skoda Octavia, especially the one with the Diesel engine. There are a lot of variants available. I'm not aware of the current prices, but I think the onroad price of the high end model ( L & K 1.9 Tdi, I guess) should be around 16 Lakhs.

But one point you need to consider is the service - check with the Skoda owners in your city about the quality of service they get from the dealers. From what I heard from my friend, the service quality is far below the standards (in Bangalore).

Well Thankx Vinod,Manish & Manish,

Well Availablity may not be an issue in New Delhi according to me. Well there are 3 versions of Scoda Octivia.

1. OctaviaClassic
2. Superb Turbo Diesel
3. octavia Combi

But I am not aware of range of these threes..

Manish I have already mentioned about my budget, and preference will be looks and fuel effeciency most importantly..

Corolla is good but some of my colleges are not satisfied with it's fuel effeiciency.

May be you may lead me in right way.

[Sumit Chopra]

How about the new Honda Civic?

I thinks it is good too.

[Varun Khanna]

Go to team-bhp.com and post your query in (assuming this ain't a meaningless post). That forum is same to Indian cars as what this forum is to Java.
[ September 27, 2006: Message edited by: Varun Khanna ]

[Heena Joshi]

I don't like car. I like SUV. If I have to put money, I will put on SUV.

[Devesh H Rao]

There was a comparision between Honda Civic, Skoda Octavia and Toyoto Corolla and Civic was voted the best amongst the three.

Looks- You can't beat the new Civic.
Interiors - You just have to see the cockpit style layout to fall in love.
Fuel Economy - Not the best but not the worst too.
Relaibility - I guess a Honda would be more reliable....

For teh party

[Mani Ram]

Originally posted by Sumit Chopra:
How about the new Honda Civic?

I thinks it is good too.

I haven't tried it yet, but the reviews look good.

[Manish Hatwalne]

Be warned though - Skoda is not insured by any of the privaye insurer (like Bajaj Alianz, ICICI Prudential and so on) because usually claims are frequent & run very high. My of my friend's friend has one and th ebroken mirror itself costs 8000 INR which he had to replace thrice! And it is not covered under insurance

Budget was't there when I posted initially - my choice would be SUV but I don't have the money you have. I think cars are much cheaper (around 1l less for yyour range) in NCR region as compared to maharashtra. So you may consider lancer and as I already mentioned, team-bhp.com is a better choice.

- Manish

[Shaan Shar]

Originally posted by Manish Hatwalne:
Be warned though - Skoda is not insured by any of the privaye insurer (like Bajaj Alianz, ICICI Prudential and so on) because usually claims are frequent & run very high. My of my friend's friend has one and th ebroken mirror itself costs 8000 INR which he had to replace thrice! And it is not covered under insurance

Budget was't there when I posted initially - my choice would be SUV but I don't have the money you have. I think cars are much cheaper (around 1l less for yyour range) in NCR region as compared to maharashtra. So you may consider lancer and as I already mentioned, team-bhp.com is a better choice.

- Manish

Thankx manish and all My dear Ranchers,

Well yes this was the important what you have pointed out.. Let me also consult with any insurance agent. about Skoda....


Well about lancer, My Uncle had it and I have once drove it... But the feeling of comfort are just unbeatable in Skoda , Corolla...

I have never been in Honda Civic... So cann't say exactly about it....

[Ashok Mash]

Scoda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda - thats a good pool to select from. My last cars in India were a Premier Padmini and a battered old Zen, so I have nothing to add from that context. However, all the cars you mentioned are on roads here where I live, and I will try give you a breakdown on image/value on them.

Of the lot you have there, Scoda undeniably is the cheapest. Scoda for years where considered a poor man car, compared to say Volkswagen (funny enough � Volkswagen means peoples car or something..). Lately, most Scoda models (like Octavia) share a same platform and components with Volkswagen (and Audi, in some cases). Scoda Octavia is pretty much same as Volkswagen Passat or Audi A4. Both Volkswagen and Audi would cost you at least 30% more than a Scoda. Apart from a bit of cheap plastic, they are good cars!

As far as I know, Mitsubishi Lancer is not exactly in the same league as others here. It�s a driver�s car, fun car, excellent to get some thrills.

Toyota Corollas are the most popular car around the world. They are reliable, comfortable and did I mention reliable? I have seen fifteen-year-old Toyota Corollas with more than three hundred thousand miles on the clock and still going strong! The only few issues I have with Toyotas are that their seats (all Japanese/Korean cars seems to have this problem � really cr*py seats!) and that the car is incredibly boring to drive. Its like driving a van! No fun what so ever!

Honda on the other hand are excellent cars � often a lot more expensive. In local market here, Honda is priced slightly above BMWs, and still sells! Civics has been around for decades now, and they are good, reliable and versatile cars � definitely better than all other cars you mentioned here! No comments on price and cost of ownership though!

Personally, I wouldn�t bring any shiny new cars to Indian roads, I would rather buy an old Jeep and reinforce it with huge bars and a roll cage and may be spikes sticking out on the sides etc � just to be safe!

Good luck anyway!

[Shipra Verma]

have you looked at chevy optra , ford fiesta . They have got good rating and fuel economy . Can't beat toyota and honda though .

[Manish Hatwalne]

Originally posted by Ashok Mash:
Of the lot you have there, Scoda undeniably is the cheapest. Scoda for years where considered a poor man car, compared to say Volkswagen (funny enough � Volkswagen means peoples car or something..).

Is it so??? Here it is considered as one of the high end cars...barring imported ones. I don't even dream to own one....my most ambitious dream as of now is Scorpio or Chevrolet Tavera!

Otherwise happy with my good old Alto!!

- Manish

[Ganpi Srinivasan]

Originally posted by Manish Hatwalne:


Is it so??? Here it is considered as one of the high end cars...barring imported ones. I don't even dream to own one....my most ambitious dream as of now is Scorpio or Chevrolet Tavera!

Otherwise happy with my good old Alto!!

- Manish

true. A "not-so-popular" car in one country could be a cool, hi-end car in another. Case-in-point - Hyundai, here in the US Hyundais have started getting popular only recently (and that too mainly because of their 10-year 100,000 miles warranty) but in India Hyundai Sonata (or Accent for that matter) are considered awesome cars. VW is a great brand and their cars are always known to have a fan-following (including yours truly - proud Jetta-owner ). Skoda being their subsidiary should be good - I got a chance to look at the interiors and they reminded me of the interiors in my car. Good luck with your car search.

P.S: Has BMW started rolling out cars from their Chennai plant? If yes, you can always check out their 3-series

[Manish Hatwalne]

Compared to Indian income these cars are very, very expensive. 15 lacs for most people would mean 3 years gross salary.

- Manish

[Zip Ped]

I would say go for the Skoda Octavia Turbo diesel. I had been to India recently and one of my friends owns one in Pune. He said, he gets a mileage around 18kmpl in city driving conditions(Pune roads are really bad). I took a ride in the car and it was really smooth. Looks are something which you'll have to decide. Personally, I think it really looks good.

Oh yeah, the acceleration is damn good, doesnt feel like a diesel engine. I believe that must be because of the Turbo.

Regarding reliability, Japanese cars are more reliable than European, however for the initial 3-4 years none of these cars have problem. Honda's have the best resale values if you are planning to sell the car after 3-4 yrs.

[Zip Ped]

I would say go for the Skoda Octavia Turbo diesel. I had been to India recently and one of my friends owns one in Pune. He said, he gets a mileage around 18kmpl in city driving conditions(Pune roads are really bad). I took a ride in the car and it was really smooth. Looks are something which you'll have to decide. Personally, I think it really looks good.

Oh yeah, the acceleration is damn good, doesnt feel like a diesel engine. I believe that must be because of the Turbo.

Regarding reliability, Japanese cars are more reliable than European, however for the initial 3-4 years none of these cars have problem. Honda's have the best resale values if you are planning to sell the car after 3-4 yrs.

[prasad agarwal]

In local market here, Honda is priced slightly above BMWs,

I can't believe this ..
You say honda is expensive than BMW

[Ashok Mash]

Originally posted by prasad agarwal:
I can't believe this ..

Generally speaking, BMWs are still more expensive than Honda. For instance a 2.2ltr Honda Accord is cheaper than a 2.2ltr BMW 320 ci. However if you consider Hondas new hachback, say Honda Civic, its almost same as the BMW's hatchback 1 series.

Over all Honda is cheaper than BMW, but they seems to have priced themselves away from the Toyota/Volkswagon/Scoda range to Audi/BMW/Merc range. This is just my own opinion now, could be wrong!