Coincidentally, i also was in the process of deciding a car to replace my almost 6 year old zen estilo. in the budget of upto 6-6.5 lakhs.
My options were like these :
in hatchbacks :
Swift : pretty much an all-rounder, but backroom might be a bit cramped. Interiors come only in black, which i loved & my mom hated.
Brio : a good product from honda, but the design had everyone in my family giggling. imo, the design is a bit too childish for family car..feels like toy car.
, but handling & driveability is good..Priced a bit premium.
Liva : nice car, but unfortunately, it was a no from the beginning. Few of my friends who previously owned a corolla & qualis were disgusted by the Service centre in our city.
in sedan :
Dzire : almost same as swift, except it has a bigger boot, beige interiors & a bit slower acceleration due to increased weight. ( mostly not noticeable to drivers who don't fret with these things ).
Amaze : i gotta say i loved this car very very very much. It was practically better in almost every department when compared to swift dzire. but dzire has a strong point of after sales service & cheaper spare parts. Liking of Car design depends on personal taste, but i felt it was much better designed than dzire. had a fluidic design whereas dzire feels a bit mechanical. ( no offence meant,
). Waiting period for the cheapest 2 base versions in our city is huge. The Dealer said we would get it by January or Feb 2014. Such is the response to the car. The third variant ( amaze S or something ) & onwards variants have lesser waiting period & cars could be delivered by September end. The third variant was perfect for me, but unfortunately it costed about 70k rs more than what my max budget could be extended.
Others : Ecosport - not really much into SUVs as i am looking for family car, but still went ahead & had a test drive. Felt good, but the waiting period is a big dampener.
In the end, I've decided to go for a maruti swift for these reasons. :
1. we're a family of 3persons. Extra space is not much of a requirement at the moment. Swift seemed to be comfortable enough.
2. The after sales service is impeccable. we don't have a complaint against maruti till now.
3. The resale value is probably the best. My 6 year old car in good condition fetched my about Rs 2 lacs !!! All other companies too offered exchanges, but all of their offer were approx. Rs. 1.5 lacs.. This Made me even more confident in investing a maruti suzuki car.
P.S. : Maruti also launched a limited version : Swift RS. ( only in Vxi & Vdi ). The only difference is RS has new decals ( white & dark blue strips ), New black-blue coloured leather seat covers, New Music system( not present in Vxi/Vdi models ) & some other addons for an extra Rs. 24,500.
Go for this only if you like the new colours.
choosing a car is such a headache.. and I am not even buying it :headbang:
