Tall order

WHICH CAR

We want to buy our first family car. Our budget is Rs 3.5 lakh and we plan to keep the car with us for about seven years. My dad will be driving the car most of the time and it will be driven for about 20 km a day. However, when my brother visits India, he will use the car extensively for a month, for instance, for drives to Ooty/Munnar from Coimbatore. I checked out both the Maruti Alto and the Tata Indica Xeta. The Alto is a proven model and Maruti's maintenance and service is very good, but the car doesn't offer enough legroom (most of us in our family are over 6 ft tall). The Xeta is more powerful, more spacious and it is priced almost as much as the Alto. But I have heard that the local Tata dealer's service is pretty bad. Could you please help us choose the right car?

Ragu, via email

We have not driven the Xeta yet, and cannot comment on the car till we do that. However, since legroom is a concern, we suggest you test drive the Wagon R "" it should serve you well for most of your needs and can even handle the occasional long drive. You won't be complaining about headroom too. As for the Alto, it is a proven car that can stretch a litre to 15 kpl-plus on a regular basis. It is easy to drive and park too.

Parental bliss

My dad currently drives a Fiat Siena 1.6. Over the last three years he has hardly covered 30,000 km in it and the car has been virtually trouble-free. Now we plan to swap it for a new car in the same segment/class soon. We shortlisted the Ford Fiesta 1.6 and the Honda City (VTEC, if we decide to splurge a bit). The City looks tempting "" it has a new design, great mileage and also feels more reliable and maintenance-free compared to the Fiesta. Ride quality is something we have been used to, so will the City be a letdown? Or should we go for the fun-to-drive, solid but seemingly more expensive-to-maintain Fiesta? I also feel that the Fiesta may not have as good a resale value as a Honda. The daily commute won't be more than 10-15 km and we will go on road trips once in 4-5 months. Our priorities, in this order are, ownership experience, ride quality and performance, fuel efficiency and maintenance costs. The budget is Rs 7-9 lakh and the car will be primarily driven by my parents.

Sushant Vithaldas, Bangalore

Essentially you need a car for your parents, right? Nice to see the son doing all the necessary research (we have edited out half your question for lack of space!). We have an altogether new suggestion for you "" splurge a little bit and buy the Honda City ZX CVT. Yes, it is an automatic with continuously variable transmission and one that is very easy to drive. You are right, the Fiesta has more 'feel' and rides and handles very well. If the idea is to go for a fun-to-drive car, then there is nothing that can stop you from buying the Fiesta 1.6. However our road tests will tell you that the City VTEC is both quicker and faster than the Fiesta 1.6. Again, we think your parents will be better off with the CVT, since the ownership experience will be top notch, fuel efficiency will be good for its league, maintenance minimal and ride quality decent if not up to the Fiesta/Siena mark.

Life begins

I am in my forties and I intend to buy my first car. It shall rarely be used for the office commute; it will mostly run on weekends, and once in three months to some place on the outskirts of Delhi. Could you recommend a good car well within Rs 4.50 lakh? Also, are there some additional features that I should look out for?

Gordhandas, New Delhi

You can get some very nice cars for your money. Starting from the Maruti Alto with power steering to even fairly well-equipped Hyundai Santros and Suzuki Wagon Rs. The Alto is a very economical small car that is easy to drive in city conditions. The Santro and Wagon R offer better ride comfort and more driving pleasure "" power steering is the only must-have feature that we can think of in these models. Test drive these cars and make the choice.

Planning to buy a car or bike?Ask us at
bijoy@business-standard.com