Diesel or the City

I need your advice for buying a car. My choice is between the Honda City and the Accent Viva CRDi Diesel. My first important point is fuel economy, as I travel almost 80 km per day from my home to office and business centre. The car will be driven by my chauffeur. I am also looking at low cost of maintenance and a good resale value after using the car for 3 to 4 years or 50,000-60,000 km. Please advise which car I should buy, as the prices are almost are the same.

Ashis Kumar Mallik, via email

A: Both the Accent CRDi and the City have their strengths. If economy matters to you, then the CRDi is your next car, but if you value refinement and rear seat space, the City should get the nod from you.

Though the Accent diesel is sophisticated, it cannot match the refinement and eagerness of the new-age petrol engine powering the City.

That said, amongst diesel cars, the Accent CRDi, despite having a three cylinder engine, is a strong contender that combines performance and diesel economy into one well-built package.

Both cars will cost roughly the same to maintain and both should hold value better too.

This is one decision you should make after driving (or getting driven around by your driver) the cars. Our opinion is that the City with more rear legroom will be a better choice for you.

Moving up

Q: I seek your help in choosing a car. I am a 34-year old middle management professional with an MNC. My driving is 40-50 km a day within city limits, totally self driven. I go for long 200-300 km drives three to four times a year. My requirements from a car are comfort, seating for four, fuel efficiency, low repair costs/easy serviceability and reasonable resale value. My budget is Rs 5 to 5.5 lakh. The car purchase will be financed. I have been driving a Matiz for four years and prior to that, an M-800. What do you suggest: a. A new car or a used one, since I would probably replace my car in 4-5 years? b. Which car to buy? c. Is it ok for me to convert the new car to CNG, given I drive around 1,100 km a month?

Saurabh Paul, via email A: We think it makes sense to buy a new car with today's interest rates. Choice in the Rs 5-6 lakh range is amazing too.

For your kind of driving, it won't be all that bad an idea to go for a diesel "� but we would stick with petrols since you have been driving petrol-powered cars all these years.

You can get yourself the facelifted Maruti Esteem or the 1.3 version of the Ford Ikon for your money "� the first is tried and trusted and reliable to a fault, while the latter offers great ride comfort and a small yet peppy engine.

Do test drive these cars before you reach a conclusion though.

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