Indian Car buying guide

Zangetsu

I am the master of my Fate.
Hi Guys,

Most of you own a car of some brand.
Need your views about the same, which could help me/anyone to think before buying a CAR.

Q1. Which is best in terms of After sales service ?
The most common answer would be Maruti.

Q2. Which brand has low maintenance cost (service, parts etc) ?
Again, is your answer "Maruti"

Share your thoughts.
 

billubakra

Conversation Architect
Although I don't own one but I came to know about many things as my cousin got one recently. Don't go with "bhedchaal". Maruti is crap IMHO, no offence to anyone though. What's your budget?
 

billubakra

Conversation Architect
Why so ? and what is Bhedchaal ?
Follow the crowd. You can get cars with advanced features in the same price tag of say a Dzire. 4-5 kms mileage more or less can be ignored. About after sales service, I think all companies do just fine, exceptional cases will be there. What's your budget? Which car do your prefer hatchback, sedan, suv, muv etc?
 
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ssb1551

Technomancer
Its a good thing @billubakra explained the word - I was about to ask the same. Not all of us here are fluent in Hindi. Anyways I just recently booked Baleno but I agree with @billubakra - dont follow the masses blindly. First fix your budget and the features you would definitely MUST have in the car you wanna buy. Then go for test drives and see what tickles your whim. I didn't want to buy a car especially with the traffic conditions in Bangalore but my wife insisted and I didnt want her to commute to office on her Hero Duet. Tata's new cars like Tiago , Tigor are game changers. They certainly dont feel like Tata anymore.

As far as servicing is concerned all the service centres try to rip every Customer. Everything boils down to how much investigation and research have YOU done before the servicing. For ex my brother-in-law was charged 9k upwards the service of Swift (petrol) at around 20k kms mark. When he asked the Manager of the showroom for the quotation, he was furious to see engine oil worth 3.9k. Luckily he had not given them the go ahead for servicing. Maruti, in the owner manual, recommends 0W20. The servicing guy had billed for fully synthetic 5W30. He got that changed & some other. Finally he paid a little more than 4k.
 

Stormbringer

Ambassador of Buzz
I too agree with @billubakra. We have a Suzuki Ignis. Happy with it. Earlier we had the Maruti Alto and we were happy with it too. After sales services depends on the service center and hence will vary. And not all suzuki models have cheap maintenance. Their Swift cars were quite expensive to maintain. The one advantage of Maruti is that you get spare parts long after the model is discontinued. There are many good alternatives. I would however avoid certain brands who have very few service centers like Nissan/Datsun. Last time checked there were only 4 service centers in Bangalore owned by 2 agency.

Note:
1) Few of the newer Maruti cars are well built like the Baleno, Ignis. So not all are cheaply built.
2) Do your research on each model and don't assume based on company reputation. Ex Renault Kwid is poorly built and failed crash test repeatedly.
3) Don't compromise on safety and get a car with Airbags and ABS. They are more important than a fancy music system on a car.
4) Ford provides a calculator so that to give you an approx cost of servicing in advance. My cousin has used it and its fairly accurate.
5) Buy a Diesel only if you drive a lot. Or else Petrol is more economical to buy and maintain.
 

billubakra

Conversation Architect
@ssb1551
Tiago and Tigor are game changers because Tata is bringing Jaguar's features/specs in these cars, not all but majority of them. One example is the gear knob which comes out when you start the car and trust me it is superb.
How much did the Baleno cost you? And did you go for the AT one?
 
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ssb1551

Technomancer
We went for Delta variant of Baleno Automatic. Since mostly my wife will use it to commute to office so went the Automatic way. And B'lore traffic is no place for beginners. The on-road cost of the model in B'lore is 880k. Although I personally wanted the Zeta manual variant. Heck I didnt want to buy Baleno. I suggested her to go with Alto K10 or Kwid because she (for that matter any one in Blore city) will never go beyond 60-70 in B'lore roads. And we dont have any plans for long road trip. But she didnt like the looks of either. So stuck with Baleno!!
 

ssb1551

Technomancer
Where do you live/stay? Honda City is a bad option for people living in B'lore. Speaking from personal experience and that too 2!! :D
 

billubakra

Conversation Architect
@ssb1551
Biwi is always right he he. You should have checked out Verna in that range. Anyways, party due on your side. When are they delivering it to you?

@Zangetsu
Do check out Verna, the latest variant. Has more features than the one's which you are thinking about.
 

ssb1551

Technomancer
@ssb1551
Biwi is always right he he. You should have checked out Verna in that range. Anyways, party due on your side. When are they delivering it to you?

No buddy! Verna has 2 automatic models in petorl. The base one is approximately 1.3 mil INR on road in Blore. So Verna was out of question. I had no intention of touching let alone go above the 1 mil INR mark. We will get it at the end of Jan.
 

billubakra

Conversation Architect
I had compared Ciaz vs City vs Verna.
and Verna is excellent in terms of feature. but my only worry is After sales support, cost of maintenance.
As the cost of parts are on higher side in Verna.



You can't go wrong with either City or Verna. Don't go for Ciaz. Coming to after sales support, man there are people who would vouch for Hyundai, Honda and then there are people who would tell you otherwise. Toyota is known worldwide for its customer support, right? There was a guy in our state who made headlines because he destroyed his Fortuner, with hammers and stuff, in front of the dealership because his complaint wasn't solved even after 6 months. Toyota gave him a new piece later as he is some billionaire. Coming to spare parts, I think the pricing should be pretty much the same with Honda and Hyundai, not sure about it though. But lets say a screw costs Rs. 500/- more in Hyundai, now it is upto you to think about that. With high specs, features ofcourse the cost of servicing will be on a higher side. How much higher, please check in your city.
 

billubakra

Conversation Architect
No buddy! Verna has 2 automatic models in petorl. The base one is approximately 1.3 mil INR on road in Blore. So Verna was out of question. I had no intention of touching let alone go above the 1 mil INR mark. We will get it at the end of Jan.
Are you getting the 2017 model in Jan'2018 or are they going to deliver the 2018 model?
 
OP
Zangetsu

Zangetsu

I am the master of my Fate.
Hmm, I will do more research now. As I don't have any idea about after sales service.
But majority of people with whom I interacted advised me Maruti.

Check this out upcoming 2018 cars from Hyundai.


Hyundai Kona, Azera and IONIQ hybrid.

I am spellbound
 
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billubakra

Conversation Architect
Hmm, I will do more research now. As I don't have any idea about after sales service.
But majority of people with whom I interacted advised me Maruti.

Check this out upcoming 2018 cars from Hyundai.


Hyundai Kona, Azera and IONIQ hybrid.

I am spellbound

Next year Karoq is also releasing. Is it worth waiting? No dear. Just get one. Go and test drive a City and Verna and ask them about the price of 1 service including labour charges, 1 service per year is fine if your usage is below 1 lac. I hate Maruti, naam bade darshan chote. You still haven't told us about your budget.
Regarding hybrid, there are only two "real" hybrid cars in India, Camry and Accord but they are trimmed down as compared to their American/Japanese counterparts. Moreover their prices increased by 4-5 lacs post GST. Let me tell you one more thing, radar in cars is banned in India so we cannot take advantage of Autopilot as the foreigners do+other features like lane assist, speed limiters and several other assists. Tesla wanted to start production in India, but thanks to make in India initiative under which every manufacturer has to buy about 40% stuff locally, Elon said no and opened 2 more units in China. And our government wants e-cars on roads by 2030.
 

billubakra

Conversation Architect
@Zangetsu
More spellbound, eh? Don't be as the Indian variant misses most of the features all thanks to the policies. I had the pleasure of driving this 6000cc beast and trust me it is awesome.
 
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