Hi,
I am new to pakwheels and really enjoying vising this site. I am currently stuck in deciding which car to go for. Basically this is the first time I am going to buy a car on my own so I need help from the car gurus out there. I don't want to be in a situation where I have to repent on why I bought this car as I am not that rich to buy again for some time...I hope you understand.
Well I have a suzuki FX so I like the seating arrangement and comfort but is a 20 years old machine now. I am looking for a family car for 5 people which can come under 0.6 million. My priority is a car which is economical, stylish, 5 people can fit (if possibel with luggage at the back) and most of all don't make me spend money every month ( Currently with FX I have to ).
I have looked in the past few weeks, Santro, Chevorlet, Alto, Cultus and Vitz and here is my observation (I hope Die hard fans of any of these cars don't mind as this is only from a novice !!)
I started my looking at Alto and Cultus. Although I have been using Suzuki for years so the look n feel seem natural to me. The only problem I find is, I don't link the back seat of cultus, it seems too tight probably because of the CNG cylinder it had. I have also heard that Cultus engine has a strange sound in it plus it was launched some time back with no EFI. Plus I have seen too many Cultus around and it doesn't amuse me so I have ruled out Cultus. Alto...too small for 3 to sit at the back so this one is also out. I can't affort Liana etc so no chance going to buy Suzuki brand. Ofcourse resale value of Suzuki brands is good but I am not going to sell my car in 5-6 years to come.
Then I went to Santro display centre. Santro look cool, stylish, its economical but have 2 issues with it. Using suzuki for years I feel a bit odd sitting strangely at the driving seat of Santro. I felt cramped. When I increased the leg room, the guy behind me had a problem. The back seat was way comfortable as compared to Cultus. There is lot of room at the back so luggage can fit easily. Also Santro Prim is 25 K cheaper than Joy. Santro has 2 years warranty, 1 year more than Suzuki's. So Stylish, economical due to EFI, lot of space at the back are pros. The only con is the awkward position I feel when I sit at the driving seat plus the back seat is not as bigger as of cultus so 3 people will sit with some difficulty. In FX I can seat pretty relaxed wher I feel as if I am sitting on a sofa where I can stretch my legs (My height is 5 10 in case you are wondering). So Santro (once in my top list) seems not to be the right choice. May be people who have switched to Santro can better guide me on the driving seat comfortability. Also I believe Santro has good resale value
Then came chevorlet. It was falling in love at the first site but later...Well it is stylish, seems same space in the back seat as in Santro. Cheaper than Santro but no luggage space at the back. Driving seat is comfortable, same or better compared to Suzuki so no issue here. The only problem is that I haven't heard people using it for some time and whether its a good long term decision or not so a bit shaky whether this decision will be right or wrong. On top of that the CNG cylinder is only of 40KG, which goes for 100 KM which sounds small. Not sure about Santro's. On top of this, I can get power windows, power steering, mp3 player in less than 0.6 million so looks like a good option. Parts are also readily available and cheaper or same as for others. Chevorlet uses MPI (Mutli point injection if I am not wrong) and I don't know whether this means good or bad.
Finally came Vitz...well its really cool, Fully automatic, more leg room at the driver and back seat than any of the above cars. Its economical and people having Vitz have a lot of good to say about it. My friend has Vitz and recommending me to go for it. Cons... resale value is low plus I don't know whether its parts are cheap and readily available in Lahore. I had a talk with one of the banks whome I will be financing the car, he has mentioned that as its parts are not available thats why its resale value is low and in 0.6 million you shold go for a new car. Well his reasoning sounds reasonable. If I go with Vitz I will get CNG in it to save fuel cost but not sure whether I can save room by having small cylinders like in Santro plus whether Vitz will have any problems while changed to CNG or not. Also if I go for Vitz which dealer is renowned for good quality Vitz.
So you guys can see there is a lot of options and confusions...Here is my chart which summarizes the above (scoring is out of 10 and based on my poor understanding).
Economical Morebackseat space More space in luggage area Comfortable Driving Seat Resale value Cheap Parts available
Cultus 7 7 0 7 10 10
Santro 10 5 7 4 10 10
Chevorlet 7 6 0 8 ? 10
Vitz 10 10 0* 10 ? ?