Upgrading to BR-V - Help a brother out

[pwuser150469741418]

Salam Pakwheelers!

I have been using an Alto since 22 and previously kept Passo and Prius. Alto serves its purpose which is to take from point A to B when I purchased it, we were a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids). At that time I did take it to Nathia gali from Karachi, but I take my kids almost every year to northern areas, this time I think the journey would be less enjoyable due to two reasons:

1) Addition of a toddler with 4 passengers in a small Alto would leave all of them feel very cramped.
2) I took it two times to Northern areas already and it sounds like it is getting abused even at 100 KM/h.

I have been looking to upgrade to a sedan, but all my kids are growing (8, 6, 4 and 1 years old) and looking at this I am considering BR-V, while my friend insists it is a ghadda gari. He is my travel partner too, we travel together on tours as well and he's a workshop owner (not the typical road side ones).

The dilemma:

I bought Alto brand new and a brand new ghada gaari has its own perks, peace of mind being the most important one of them (to me at least).

My budget is between 40 after selling my Alto. I would love to get a brand new one, but 6.3 million is insane and Honda is committing a robbery out of our pockets, but I don't want to get into that debate. My question is, should I go for a used BR-V? Something that is less driven, I take very good care of my vehicles and drive as they should be i.e not abusing the shit of them, over speeding etc. and of course the concern here is if BR-V is a good vehicle, I hope I find one that was kept with care. Please give your valuable suggestions if I should go for it or not.

Taking my parents one more time to northern along with my family is also on my wish list, we did go there last time (in 2018) but it did not went how it should have for a lot of reasons, and I want to treat them this time with a tour they expected, haha.

So, BR-V or are there other decent options?

[roony]

while my friend insists it is a ghadda gari

and whats wrong with that? Main thing brv offers is more seats, so seperate seats for all your kids with belts (and I would assume that is the no.1 priority here). Keep it maintained and it will last.

@mustafasethi I think has a manual brv and makes trips. He can add more.

[zee5han]

It'll be a huge upgrade and you can't find any other 7 seater in this budget. Just make sure you find a honda maintained car.

[msabbasi]

I owned a BR-V. Bought for 23 or 26 lacs (cant remember) brand new. My need was for a 7 seater. I will tell you that the last two seats are not a cramped as the Chinese 7 seaters. Plus the access to the last row is the best of all present 7 seaters. Yes it is a basic form of travel with no fancy sensors and ADAS. Just has a reversing camera with hard plastic everywhere and just 2 airbags but there are seatbelts for all and there is a blower in the ceiling that is quite effective in getting air throw to the third row. Once the third row is deployed luggage space is gone so you will be forced to go for roof rack. I found the plastic interior quite a boon as it was a very easy to keep clean. My long trips were limited to multiple visits to Lahore and Bahawalpur but no visits to northern areas.

I found nothing to complain about during my 35,000km worth of usage except the one fault that spoiled the driving experience. The door seals squeaked. The dealer knew about this problem and replaced all 4 doors while in my case it was just driver door. Squeaking stopped for a few months but returned and this time it was the front passenger door. My solution was to spray the rubber seals with silicone spray from time to time.

[askai37]

i recently went to balouchistan trip from karachi with 6 adults 2( 15 yrs and 1 8year) boy overall 9 passengers upto khuzdar on 2018 brv cvt. no one complain about discomfort etc. i don't know how it perform in northern areas but for me its good for family trips.no lack accept some overtaking.good ac and mileage. before that i use corolla and city both for same trip with city occupant complaining about comfort. now all of them comes in one car and double the enjoyment.

[dayrider]

BR-V or are there other decent options?

I don't think that there are any trouble free options other than this within this budget.
This is slightly uncomfortable, but otherwise does the job really well.
Anything else you get will give half the fuel consumption and probably have a higher running cost.
Unless you get a minivan, something like an estima

[Proverbial_Slang]

I would say go for it. BR-V is a fun to drive car with a good CVT transmission. Ample power, and great space management. It has reasonably good comfort. It is very easy to drive economically in the city, and keeps up with sedans on the motorway. Great ground clearance as well.

You and your family will enjoy it.

[pwuser150469741418]

Thank you, brother, for your detailed response.

[pwuser150469741418]

Thank you, brother, for your detailed response.

[pwuser150469741418]

Thank you for your response.

[mustafasethi]

I own a manual brv . The 0-100 is around 10 seconds but the cvt version does this in 14 seconds. If you want to go to northern areas then a manual brv is what you want. As this is not currently in production, then you will have to try to find a second hand car.

Regarding CVT gears, I am not a big fan of them. They are weak and suppose with a full loaded car you have stopped at a very steep road in nathia gali etc, then you will find trying to drive from a full stop very difficult. Not so with the manual brv.

The access to the last row is so wide, it is not available in any of the 7 seaters currently available. Yes the mid row seats are not as comfortable as that of a sedan, but then this is not a sedan. Brv delivers what it is supposed to deliver . Also driving with a light foot (manual) will give you 15 in the city without a/c, but not so with the cvt brv.. Mine is driven 40,000 km and i am well satisfied with it. But I had to change my general tyres (with more general tyres ) at around 32000 km or earlier. So for a big family, brv is the only choice available in which 6-7 persons can sit in it comfortably

Yes my doors seal made noise but were changed under warranty. Now the current problem is the creaking of the middle row seats which is also an in-born problem of brv and you have to live with it, or get it opened and greased from time to time.

So basically you don't have a choice if you have a large family. Or you can buy 1.2 litre changan KARVAAN . But its mileage is lower than the brv. However the space is there. Something new in the market is the Forlander, but I don't know much about it and about resale . But if you are not thinking of selling the car before 5 years then it should be okay. In videos , it looks good, but brv is brv

[pwuser150469741418]

Thank you janab for your detailed response.

I don't mind a manual but given it was discontinued back in 2018-19 not sure what condition vehicles are available in the market today. I actually prefer manual vehicles otherwise I start yawning on the motorway as if I haven't had a sleep for years.

As for the CVT yes, it has its disadvantages, but it should have a turbo in automatic variants when climbing steep roads so should be fine, I suppose.

In all honesty I'd rather go for a brand new one for the sake of peace as I love to take good care of my vehicles but it is going to cost 6.5 million which is kind of insane.

[farhan_khan_h1]

CVT isn't that bad, here's my experience.

My younger brother with his friends went till Kumrat mashaAllah! Sometimes his university friends would go to picnic and the preferred car is BR-V.

[zee5han]

BRV does NOT come with any turbo variant , its simple 1.5 NA engine in both manual and auto

[pwuser150469741418]

Sorry, I did not mean Turbo engine but the gear options like L1 and L2.

[mustafasethi]

I forgot to mention that I have been till khunjarab in my BRV without any problems (manual).

Also 3 years back I had to go from Chilas to Thakot via Dasu because Babusar top was closed due to severe landslide.

The distance from Chilas to Thakot is not much but it took me 11 hours . And also BRV did not bottom out in that area (broken / under construction area with / without roads).

[pwuser161649733723]

Finally a BRV owner now. Was interested in a manual but since I was looking for a relatively less driven vehicle it was hard to find one.

Bought 2022 - 1500 KMs driven.

Thank you all for your valuable input.

[drabdulrahman]

Please share your experience with the car
Im also looking for one

[askai37]

mashallah mubarak hooo. Please share pics if nazar na lag jaey wala mamla na ho tu?

[msabbasi]

Finally a BRV owner now. Was interested in a manual but since I was looking for a relatively less driven vehicle it was hard to find one.

Bought 2022 - 1500 KMs driven.

Thank you all for your valuable input.

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