Sunday, November 13, 2011

Shopping for a sedan for my Father

Shopping for a sedan for my Father

My father is on a lookout to replace his Accent Viva CRDI.

My parents live in a town called Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh. The town doesn't have a big double lane roads. My father shuttles twice in a day between home and clinic which is 2 KMS each way. He is usually chauffeur driven and my mother occasionally travels out of station to visit relatives. We are also bound by the dealers / service centers present locally. Maruti, Hyundai, Tata, Chevy, Ford. There is talk that Honda and VW are going to open shop soon.

Initially he wanted Cruze LTZ for it's features. He drove few times in a cousin's car and was impressed by it. But over the months he felt it's little stretch in the budget and also big for the roads he usually travels. Occasionally he drives by himself and so the car should be easier to drive in small roads. Also the launch of new Verna changed the equation.

Verna SX has similar or more features when compared to Cruze and the backseat comfort is better by only a smaller margin in the Chevy. My father also has a problem with neck due to working extended hours on Ultrasound scanner for the last 25 years. He cannot turn his neck backwards easily. So i felt the better reverse assistance in Verna will be best for him.

He checked the new Fiesta too and was impressed. But I am against it due to it's poor sales. Vento is good buy but we don't have service center locally and it is short of features. Manza would have been the best choice, but it is not counted as leap in social status switching from Accent Viva to Manza.

Finally we have short listed to Verna 1.6 SX VGT. I got a test drive. Was not impressed with the performance. It lacks any punch and power delivery was linear. Also like mentioned in the official review, the rear seat could have been better.

I guess the choice was a vice decision. What say guys?

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