The Hindu Business Line : Question & Auto

I want to buy a small car in the Rs 3-4 lakh price range. I have shortlisted the Hyundai Santro, the Maruti Wagon R, the Tata Indica diesel and the new Maruti Suzuki Zen Estillo. I drive less than 50 km a day and the car will be self-driven. I am looking for a car that will offer maximum comfort, driving pleasure and give a relatively good performance. I am also looking for a car which features a double fold rear seat so that I can get enough space for luggage.

Sandeep Kumar

I was going to buy the Suzuki Swift, but then decided to wait for the new Zen Estilo. Now, I am confused and don't know which one to buy. Should I choose the Swift or the Estilo?

Bhaskar Paul

I am planning to buy either the Maruti Suzuki Alto or the Zen Estilo. Which is the better car in terms of mileage and performance?

Ashwin

The new Zen Estilo has nothing in common with the previous Zen in terms of design and performance. Maruti has ensured that the Estilo has enough of its own pluses. The company has merely borrowed the Zen brand name for leveraging on its popularity and brand recall.

But a number of the original Zen owners may not necessarily like the Estilo's overall package. The design of the new car is difficult to hate, but its monoform design will seem too familiar to many, who may assume it to be a copy, when actually it is not. The Estilo also features the same 1.1-litre engine that is in the Wagon-R. For many original Zen owners, this engine may seem less peppy and more suitable only for city traffic.

The Estilo shares its platform with the Alto and the Wagon-R. In addition to the common parts (such as door handles) that are being used in all the three cars, the Estilo has carried forward the same engine and gearbox from the Wagon-R. Maruti's engineers have worked on and marginally altered this engine's tuning and have also re-engineered the gearbox to improve the shift feel.

The five-speed gearbox in the Estilo has a slightly better shift feel and the rubbery, hesitant shift, which used to be a negative in the original Wagon-R, is no longer there. But the shift stick continues to be as long as it was with the Wagon-R and the play in each gear slot continues to get exaggerated a bit due to the length, and as such there is still a fair bit of feedback.

Whether it is due to these shared components or because of the fact that the Estilo effectively has the same tallboy theme with similar ground clearance, the ride feel is very similar to that of the Wagon-R. Maruti has upped the quality and finish of the Estilo's interiors, but it still reminds you of the Wagon-R.

Yes, the Estilo's rear bench seat is a double folding type, though it does not have a 50:50 or a 60:40 split. The Swift and the Estilo are not exactly comparable, so, if budgetary constraints are not an issue, the more aggressively designed Swift, which has a much more peppy and powerful engine and better build quality, may be the more obvious choice. But the Estilo VXi is not so poorly endowed. It comes with ABS and a driver airbag as optional safety features.

The fuel efficiency of the Estilo will, of course, not match that of the Alto's 800cc engine. But design, contemporariness, interior space and performance are all better in the Estilo.

I have decided to purchase a second-hand Daewoo Matiz — year 2000 model. The owner of the car is quoting Rs 1.2 lakh for this non-air-conditioned model. It has been single-owner driven and has clocked only 20,000 km. Considering the current market, should I buy it or not? I am not interested in investing more money in my first car. Comparing the Maruti brand, what would you suggest? Are there Daewoo-authorised dealers for spares and service in Bangalore?

T. N. Suresh

The price being quoted for this sparingly used Matiz seems to be on the higher side, given the trim-level and current used-car market rates for similar Daewoo vehicles.

It certainly is not a bargain, especially with after-market support for Daewoo vehicles being sopoor. And the fact that it is over six years will start showing in terms of an increase in maintenance costs.

There are no company-authorised dealers for Daewoo vehicles now. After the financial troubles of the parent and its takeover globally (except in a few countries such as India) by GM, the Indian operations have not been taken over by any other company, and the rest of the after-sales network has been languishing ever since.

Finding spare parts for the Matiz is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive, despite GM India's plans to launch the Chevrolet Spark, which is a redesigned, reengineered version of the original Daewoo Matiz.

If you are looking for a bargain and don't mind risking a poor resale value when you go to the used market a few years down the line, then you can consider the Fiat Palio 1.2 petrol. Maruti vehicles usually retain their value well, but you will also be able to find bargains in the Rs 1.2-1.5 lakh price range on the old Zen.

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