I wanted to share my experience of buying a hatchback from the available ones in the market. My choices were limited to i20, Ritz, Swift, Polo and Punto - all in Petrol versions only since my monthly running was sure to not exceed 700 Kms and I had a feeling that Diesel cars were a bit noisy and less refined from my previous experience. The main areas that I focused on while choosing the car were in the following order: Safety features, comfort, ride quality, looks, after sales service, fuel efficiency and finally price tag.
With these criteria in mind, I set out comparing each of the above mentioned cars and test drove each of them. My observations were as below:
i20: Pretty good car - good ride quality, high on safety features(had air bags on the rear of front seats as well), comfortable front seats (driver seat and steering completely adjustable) but for the same driving position found that rear seats were a bit crammed for a person of my height (5ft 11). Looks, A.S.S. and fuel efficiency all looked OK, however the price tag quoted was 6.8L ex showroom and with accessories I am sure it would have shot upto 7.3L which was out of my budget. To top this, the dealer was not ready to reduce the price by even a single paisa and offered no freebies which kinda put me off. To top it - the car offered no extra features to keep me hooked on. All in all a decent package but one which ended up on the other side of my budget, so had to be kept at no.2 slot.
Ritz: The first thing you notice about this car is its shape from the sides and rear. You will either like it or not like it at all - there cant be any grey areas here I think and its pretty hard to ignore it if you dont like it. I did however take a test drive and things I liked are - the useful storage space below the front seat, blue+grey dash colour combination, comfortable and fuel efficient. Things I seriously didn’t like are - the tachometer placed on the dash at a wierd spot, engine was not very responsive with 4 people seated in the car and seemed sluggish, crammed rear seats if a 6 footer sits in the front (me, my mom and my father-in-law are all 6 footers, so this problem was bound to show up sometime) and lastly I couldn’t stand the rear and side design of the car and neither could my wife. So for me, this car was right down the bottom of my list.
Swift: Everyone has seen so much of this car on roads that all would know its the best selling hatch and I must say it does deserve all the attention. Pros I found were - good ride and comfort, satisfactory on safety features, realiable Maruti A.S.S. and a decent price tag. Cons were - very common on the roads since the Ritz, Swift and Dzire all share the same front, 4 months+ waiting period (dont understand what this fuss is all about) and finally my own previous perception about the Maruti brand being too un-premium (they sell cars starting right from 2.5L upto 10L) so there is no premiumness about the Swift carrying the same badge as an Alto/A-Star/M800. Ppl - these are my personal views only and NOM.
Polo: I was eagerly waiting for the Polo and to be honest I delayed my purchase decision just to accomodate this one in and had high expectations from VW. But frankly I felt let down - for the features and quality the Polo is selling for it is highly overpriced and it seemed to me that VW has tried very hard to cut costs everywhere in the car and believe me, it shows!! Nevertheless, the pros were - ride and handling is superb and the car just glides over potholes, fulfills all safety requirements (ABS, air bags, immobilizer). Cons - No Auto Climate Ctrl, rear seat space is cramped, no steering mounted controls even in Highline version, interior plastic looks cheap and tacky - all in all it was overpriced for the features and quality it offered, a big disappointment especially since I hnad big hopes from this car.
Punto: Although this was the first car I test drove, I was initially very apprehensive about the FIAT brand and its image as FIAT cars being fuel guzzlers and hopeless A.S.S.. But step into this beauty and all my concerns evaporated, the car is clearly a level above all its competitors (I realized this after I test drove all the above menioned cars and then got into a GP for test drive no.2). The Pros are - outstanding ride quality and stability at low/high speeds, well adjusted suspension to take care of Indian road conditions, solid build quality (you can feel the thud while closing the doors as in high end cars), steering mounted controls, Blue n Me works like dream, 195/60 R15 tyres (the widest in its class), engine is very responsive and doesn’t disappoint at high speeds as well, adjustable driver seat/steering column, awesome rear seat and boot space (280 litres) and last but not the least jaw dropping looks from any angle you wish to look at it. Cons are - Big turning radius as compared to others in its league, apprehensions about FIAT’s A.S.S. and resale value.
Armed with the above results and my personal experiences while TD’ing each car and after much thought - I chose the Punto Petrol 1.4 Emotion Pack over all others. I must say though that it was a decision 60% from my heart and 40% from my mind. 1 month/700kms later what a car it has been till now, I am still as excited to get back behind the steering wheels as I was on the first day I thought of owning this Italian beauty and trust me I dont regret my decision at all till date. In fact with each passing day and drive I am more convinced I did the right thing.
If you are one who gives in to your heart, go for the Punto and she will surely not disappoint you - after all its a Bold new Drive ;)