City beat

WHICH CAR?

I own a June 2004 model Honda City that has done 40,000 km. I am very satisfied with it, but now I feel like replacing it with a diesel car in the same segment. In the last six months, because of my sales job, it is driven more "" around 2,500 km each month. Does it make sense to replace the Honda with a diesel Hyundai Verna or Ford Fiesta?

Mohit Jawa, via email

At 2,500 km every month, a diesel car makes brilliant sense indeed. The Verna offers a good all-round package that delivers when it comes to performance and reasonable fuel economy. The Ford Fiesta, on the other hand, is even more economical but does not have the performance of the Verna. So the choice is clear "" if you have a chauffeur, then go for the Fiesta, or else buy the Verna and enjoy the drive.

Final countdown

I am 28 years old and 186 cm tall. It's time for me to buy my first car. I will be driving around 1,500-2,000 km a month and my budget is between Rs 5 and Rs 8.5 lakh. I have researched and test-driven virtually all cars in this price band. I am inclined towards buying a diesel car, but if the package is attractive, I can look at petrol cars as well. Please have a look at my list and tell me which one should I buy.

1. Maruti Suzuki Wagon R Duo
2. Tata Indica Turbodiesel
3. Maruti Suzuki Swift ZXi
4. Swift VDi
5. Ford Fusion TDCi
6. Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi
7. Chevrolet U-VA
8. Hyundai Verna 1.5 CRDi
9. Chevrolet Optra Magnum
10. Mahindra Logan 1.5 diesel

I'm not too happy with the performance of the Wagon-R, while the Swift petrol and diesel have a long waiting period (six months for the diesel). I'm not sure about the resale value of the U-VA while the Magnum, though very good, is way outside my budget. Given my circumstances, what do you suggest?

Ravindranath K, Hyderabad

You drive enough to justify buying a diesel car. And from your shortlist (an impressive one at that!), we think you should settle for the Ford Fiesta. It is an amazingly economical car that is well-built and one that has found good acceptance by buyers in India. Great ride quality on bad roads is its strength. It is underpowered when compared to some other cars, but has adequate performance for city as well as highway use.

Take it easy

I have recently shifted to Bangalore and am working with a major IT company here. I want to select a good car for myself and need your help. Here are the relevant details: 1. Budget: Rs 3-4 lakh 2. Average usage of car: Up to 20 km daily and about 50 to 100 km on weekends 3. Driver: Self 4. EMI that I can afford: Rs 5,000 5. Seating capacity: Maximum four 6. Mileage: 15 kpl with AC 7. Other important criteria: Driving with the AC on should not cause much problems (I have heard that the Maruti Suzuki Alto does not drive well when the AC is running), it should be easy to manoeuvre and park, cost of maintenance should be low and I expect a good resale value. Based on the above requirements, should I go for a petrol, diesel or a CNG car?

Shalabh Sindhwani, Bangalore

The Alto has an 800cc engine that returns sterling fuel economy. The low side is that with the aircon running, the car does not perform at its optimum. So our advice to you will be to go for the base models of the Hyundai Santro Xing or Maruti Suzuki Wagon R "" ensure that you buy a model with power steering. Both these cars are quite established in the market and have decent aircon performance too. They won't match the Alto when it comes to fuel economy, but you can expect 12-14 kpl on a regular basis depending the way you drive.

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