Confused between the new Honda Jazz and new Suzuki Swift.

Hi,
We have a 10 years old daewoo Matiz. It has run just 42000 kms.(no, i didn't miss a zero.) We want to buy a new car. My only two choice now is the ones I mentioned in the title. Should we buy a diesel swift? With rising petrol prices diesel seems to be the only sane choice. Also our monthly running is less than 80kms. So I dont know if I should invest in a diesel car. I am ignoring the fact that I might not be able to recover the premium that I paid for if I buy the diesel swift. I will buy only the topend models of either cars.

Except for the fuel efficiency the Jazz beats the swift hands down.

No, with only 80km/month you will not be able to recover the premium you will be paying for a diesel car. I think it is better to go with a Petrol car although I personally like Swift very much, that too diesel is like top fav

gagan007 said:
No, with only 80km/month you will not be able to recover the premium you will be paying for a diesel car. I think it is better to go with a Petrol car although I personally like Swift very much, that too diesel is like top fav

Dude, I said I am ignoring that recovering thing. Don't think about. Will I have any other problems if I go for a diesel car?

oops, I am sorry, I didn't read that properly.
Moving forward, diesel cars, nowadays, do not need any special maintenance as people generally talk about diesel cars. I have a Figo diesel and one of my friends has diesel Swift. We pay nominal service charge as petrol car owners.

I think, in this case, you should go with Swift. I do not know about your financial status, but if I were you I would have done that because maintaining a "Maruti/Suzuki" is much cheaper than maintaining a "Honda". But if you can afford that, buy Jazz.

Offtopic: I'm really curious how you manage to spend just 80km on the car every month. I travel that much daily

Ontopic: How big is your family? Size plays a big role when buying a car. Are you all comfortable in the matiz? If not and you're looking for comfort for 5, consider only larger cars like the i20, the Jazz, the Indica Vista (the best in terms of butt-space

), etc. Best, actually visit a showroom with your family and sit in a demo car.

PS: I've no idea how big the new swift is on the inside...

The new Swift is surprisingly a great (new)car
not losing any of its old characteristics and improvising on the old flaws....

but i urge u to consider Nissan micra (diesel) ...just take a test drive

in above two cars , new jazz with price cuts is a great buy bt i will go for a diesel car anyday(swift)

I feel the new swit is bigger and better...but do not forget to try out Etios hatchback.....

J

stick to swift. Maruti suzuk and hyundaii spares are cheap and support is deep. Ford figo is also a gud car though.

i20 is underpowered for the price. Jazz still doesnt deserve the premium...yes im talking of the new one.

If u need something smaller than swift..then the new i10 is a great car.

I see most people above have suggested the Swift. But I would suggest sticking to the Jazz. Jazz is miles ahead in every department than the marutis and the hyundais. It is the look and feel of a big car and also drives like a big car. And with the latest price cuts it is a steal. The top end model (ex-showroom) is around 6.18 in Kolkata. Considering you will only buy the top end model of your choices, I would suggest the Jazz X over the new swift.

Considering you will only do around 80-100kms per month, it makes no sense to go for a diesel car.

And no, I am not biased towards Honda in spite of owning a Honda City. Also they are not expensive to maintain despite the general opinion. You only need to do the oil change once every 6 months.

^^ I prefer i20 over Jazz and Swift. Compared to Honda, hyundai and maruthi are way lesser cost in terms of maintenance.

abhidev said:
I feel the new swit is bigger and better...but do not forget to try out Etios hatchback.....

Actually I thought of buying the Liva but it has a few problems. Like slow pickup, bad interior and less bang for the buck.

MetalheadGautham said:
Offtopic: I'm really curious how you manage to spend just 80km on the car every month. I travel that much daily

Ontopic: How big is your family? Size plays a big role when buying a car. Are you all comfortable in the matiz? If not and you're looking for comfort for 5, consider only larger cars like the i20, the Jazz, the Indica Vista (the best in terms of butt-space ), etc. Best, actually visit a showroom with your family and sit in a demo car.

PS: I've no idea how big the new swift is on the inside...

Well, our daily commute isn't done in the car. We use the car only when the whole family has to go somewhere.

We are a family of 4. I still haven't seen the rear legroom space of the new swift. Have to see it before I decide.

In that case...i would suggest I-20...one of my friend has it...its powerful and great interiors and also the inbuilt audio system is nice...

I would suggest i20 or Jazz, the kind of quality that Maruthi Suzuki maintains these days is not satisfactory, I mean they've got superb engines & spares cost less & looks good from outside, that's about it, when you compare with competition at same price range, interiors are much better from competition. Coz most of the time you'll be spending inside the car sitting in it, so don't go for exterior looks alone.

i20 is worth every penny spent on it and Jazz is a no brainer with the reduced pricing. Every time you push that pedal it brings smiles to your face & typical Honda quality & service back up.

Ownership experience :
Had several models of Maruthi in family before moving to Hyundai, only then realized what we were missing in Maruthi.

Yeah, that's true. Interior and finishing in Maruti cars are always ways behind other manufactures (maybe Tata can beat them in this department).

Well I didn't go with i20 because weight-to-power ratio in this car is much much higher than other vehicles, otherwise it has a lot of features which are absent in many entry level sedans. When I took a test ride i20, I could feel the "bulkiness"

^^Might be for you, but to be frank, i20 is a superb performer and the driving pleasure is high compared to Swift, where i feel like i am driving a TATA car. It's just my opinion.

Well if we we go for a petrol car than it will be the Jazz X. We are seriously considering the diesel Swift ZDI.

The Jazz is a very uncommon car. Driving it will make heads turn.

Also the car is big and airy. The only downside: less than 15 kmpl :cry:

sriharsha_madineni said:
i20 is worth every penny spent on it and Jazz is a no brainer with the reduced pricing. Every time you push that pedal it brings smiles to your face & typical Honda quality & service back up.

Not exactly. Jazz actually doesn't accelerate quite well. The U.S version has a 1.5 litre engine option and that one suits the car. The India version only has the 1.2 litre option and thats a bit underpowered.

Right now all I am thinking is that at less than 15kmpl mileage and petrol prices rising constantly will the Jazz be a good choice? Better buy the Swift diesel because everytime you go for refill you won't feel bad when you see the prices of diesel. Also the diesel swift boasts of more than 20kmpl mileage.

^^^
Did you test drive Jazz?? The last time I drove it, It actually felt peppy & nimble, you won't feel the bulk while maneuvering. On top of that gear box is super slick. Fe is a bit down though.

Why not VW Polo then??

hehe suggesting more cars might confuse him. In my earlier post I wanted to suggest Fabia too.

gagan007 said:
hehe suggesting more cars might confuse him. In my earlier post I wanted to suggest Fabia too.

Fabia & Polo share almost 80% of the components afaik, you won't go wrong with either. It's a long term investment, so looking at all available options might be confusing, but atleast he shouldn't feel later that why didn't I think about a particular car

gagan007 said:
hehe suggesting more cars might confuse him. In my earlier post I wanted to suggest Fabia too.

sriharsha_madineni said:
Fabia & Polo share almost 80% of the components afaik, you won't go wrong with either. It's a long term investment, so looking at all available options might be confusing, but atleast he shouldn't feel later that why didn't I think about a particular car

Skoda Fabia sucks on mileage. Less than 14 kmpl. I did think about the Polo but I want to buy a "new" car.

jazz is overpriced and is low powered...love the looks though...but if you talk about VFM...then go for either new swift or i20...also fiat punto and polo look classy...but my personal choice would be i-20

abhidev said:
jazz is overpriced and is low powered...love the looks though...but if you talk about VFM...then go for either new swift or i20...also fiat punto and polo look classy...but my personal choice would be i-20

Overpriced even with the recent price cuts?

yes i don't think its worth the high premium...moreover this car has been there for quiet a while now...also Honda is bringing a new car 'Brio'(don't know when) which looks peppy too..
*www.hondacarindia.com/HondaBRIO/images/flashImg_3.jpg

abhidev said:
yes i don't think its worth the high premium...moreover this car has been there for quiet a while now...also Honda is bringing a new car 'Brio'(don't know when) which looks peppy too..

<image snipped>

I know about the Brio but the car looks small. Also we have been waiting since January to buy a new car, and I don't think we can wait any longer. Its either the Jazz or the Swift.

Our daily commute is done in public transport. As I said we take the car out only when the whole family has to go somewhere. We "sometimes" go on 200kms+ trips and in those cases we have to pay a LOT of money for petrol. But then, those trips only occur rarely so I am quite confused as to whether buy Petrol or diesel. Most people say that in my case its a no brainer to buy a petrol car but just think, in 3 years time petrol will be above Rs. 100/L. Who can drive in conditions like that? Diesel will still be less than Rs.70/L. So I am not just thinking of now. I am thinking about the future and we will definitely use the car for more than 8 years. Even being able to recover 70% of the premium I paid for the diesel car in 8 years time will be enough for me.

papul1993 said:
I know about the Brio but the car looks small. Also we have been waiting since January to buy a new car, and I don't think we can wait any longer. Its either the Jazz or the Swift.

Our daily commute is done in public transport. As I said we take the car out only when the whole family has to go somewhere. We "sometimes" go on 200kms+ trips and in those cases we have to pay a LOT of money for petrol. But then, those trips only occur rarely so I am quite confused as to whether buy Petrol or diesel. Most people say that in my case its a no brainer to buy a petrol car but just think, in 3 years time petrol will be above Rs. 100/L. Who can drive in conditions like that? Diesel will still be less than Rs.70/L. So I am not just thinking of now. I am thinking about the future and we will definitely use the car for more than 8 years. Even being able to recover 70% of the premium I paid for the diesel car in 8 years time will be enough for me.

@Papul: You cant go wrong on the Jazz X or the Swift ZDI. Great choice.

^^ Neither with i20.

@OP

If you are worried for Petrol price, your option will be (Diesel variants of )Polo ,Swift , i20 , and finally Fabia.

The "all new" i20 has loads of features. I first didn't consider it coz its so common. So is the Swift.

Does anyone know when is the i30 coming to India?

papul1993 said:
The "all new" i20 has loads of features. I first didn't consider it coz its so common. So is the Swift.

Does anyone know when is the i30 coming to India?

i30?? May be at the 2012 Auto expo.

My two cents, Visit the showroom with your family, sit inside the car, check out the cabin ambience & then decide. I think then you'll acknowledge the difference between maruthi & others

Do consider the Polo, take your time, have a test drive of all your options & most importantly take your family too & get an idea of cabin space & ambience, you don't want surprises after getting it home, do you?

@sriharsha_madineni: completely agree on this point mate. forget about family but take your wife definitely. wives have tendency to crib for rest of your lives if you purchase something without taking their opinion/suggestion into consideration

H

Hi papul1993,

I saw your question on techenclave as well and decided to create an ID here to answer your question. I have gone through similar confusion, and I'm currently in queue for both - a Swift ZXI and Honda jazz Select. I'm planning to cancel my Swift booking and take the Jazz (expect by mid-Sep, Bangalore), as Petrol is my choice of engine. I'll try to help you with Diesel vs. Petrol, ignoring any recovery calculation on money spent for Diesel.

I like diesel for?
1) low running cost - definitely you'll always like to save whatever you can
2) high resale value
3) saves from future petrol price hike - but please remember that Diesel price deregulation is always being discussed. In another 5yrs petrol and diesel may not cost very different even in India. There will probably be difference, but not as high as would pinch your pocket to make you chose a diesel car.

Why I dislike diesel:
1) whenever a diesel car revvs in front of me i hate the sight of black smoke
2) sound inside the cabin is not very high, but high enough to disturb when you want to have a peaceful long drive
3) if your vehicle is idle for many days, diesel will start with a puff of black smoke - i hate that, reminds me of trucks

My drive will be about 400km to 500km per month, but I'm still going for petrol as I like the peppyness of petrol engines and the peace that they give in a personally driven car. I'd like to be at the back seat of a diesel car. But since I enjoy driving I'm choosing petrol.

Hope this helps!

^^ Experience?

actually very good points there hellosubhash

that slight noise in cabin do "really irritate" me sometimes and peppiness of petrol car undoubtedly leaves a diesel car behind

hellosubhash said:
Hi papul1993,

I saw your question on techenclave as well and decided to create an ID here to answer your question. I have gone through similar confusion, and I'm currently in queue for both - a Swift ZXI and Honda jazz Select. I'm planning to cancel my Swift booking and take the Jazz (expect by mid-Sep, Bangalore), as Petrol is my choice of engine. I'll try to help you with Diesel vs. Petrol, ignoring any recovery calculation on money spent for Diesel.

I like diesel for?
1) low running cost - definitely you'll always like to save whatever you can
2) high resale value
3) saves from future petrol price hike - but please remember that Diesel price deregulation is always being discussed. In another 5yrs petrol and diesel may not cost very different even in India. There will probably be difference, but not as high as would pinch your pocket to make you chose a diesel car.

Why I dislike diesel:
1) whenever a diesel car revvs in front of me i hate the sight of black smoke
2) sound inside the cabin is not very high, but high enough to disturb when you want to have a peaceful long drive
3) if your vehicle is idle for many days, diesel will start with a puff of black smoke - i hate that, reminds me of trucks

My drive will be about 400km to 500km per month, but I'm still going for petrol as I like the peppyness of petrol engines and the peace that they give in a personally driven car. I'd like to be at the back seat of a diesel car. But since I enjoy driving I'm choosing petrol.

Hope this helps!

^^^ +10000

This helped quite a lot. I am also thinking about the i20. I heard that its A/C is weak compared to other cars. But it has a sunroof

Why aren't you going for the Jazz X?

Also many of my dad's colleagues told him not to buy a Honda based on the sole fact that there aren't many service centres especially in Assam.

H

papul1993 said:
^^^ +10000

This helped quite a lot. I am also thinking about the i20. I heard that its A/C is weak compared to other cars. But it has a sunroof

Why aren't you going for the Jazz X?

Also many of my dad's colleagues told him not to buy a Honda based on the sole fact that there aren't many service centres especially in Assam.

I like i20 but both my elder brothers have i20s and I wanted something different. I think i20's A/C is pretty good. In fact, Swift's A/C is a shade weak. Of the tree cars, I liked Jazz most and thanks that its within budget now. Honda engines are just awesome.

I'm going with Honda as I always intend to live in a metro city and do not think that service will be a problem. If luck favours I'd like to keep my car for up to 5-10yrs. I'm not going with Jazz X as it comes with a rear spoiler, which i don't like. It will also make me cross my budget by a big margin and that too for things that I'm not very convinced about - fog lamps, sporty alloys, electrically foldable ORVM and blue interiors. The downside with electric ORVM is that it's more expensive to maintain and can break at small clashes as the mirror's position is locked. In manual the mirror would most like fold at a small push from outside. I know this is a small thing but just helps me convince my stand ...

Cheers

How is the A/C of the Jazz btw? i20's A/C sucks. Swift's A/C is mediocre.

H

Jazz A/C was pretty nice during my 20min test drive. I started the blower at 2nd speed and soon had to go down to 1st. While I was at the driving seat, my friends at the rear seat had a good feedback of the A/C.

My vote >>>New Swift