French flair

I have a Skoda Octavia, which has done about 1.2 lakh km. Now it is at the end of its life cycle. I had the same model earlier and would like to buy one again, but it seems it has been discontinued. I want something similar in terms of quality of build, with a heavy emphasis on fuel economy. Any suggestion?

Anon, via email

The Skoda Octavia is no longer made, as you rightly said, but the one car that mirrors the Octavia today is the new Renault Fluence. It’s a comfortable, tough, no-nonsense car with lots of features and an efficient and reasonably powerful diesel engine under the hood. The best bit about the car is its ride quality, which is by far the best in its class. We believe the Fluence should work reliably and give you good service in the years to come.

ALL-ROUNDER MUV

I need an SUV/MUV under the Rs 20 lakh bracket, with seven seats, a good level of comfort and a diesel engine. Would the Tata Aria be a good choice, from an overall perspective including performance, service, etc or would you recommend another vehicle?

Ramakrishna Sundaram, via email

You have a few choices within Rs 20 lakh, including the Ford Endeavour, Chevrolet Captiva and Tata Aria. The Chevrolet Captiva has a more raised stance and is quite powerful. It’s also slightly better designed as far as handling bad terrain is concerned. If that’s the kind of use you are looking at, the Captiva would be the better pick. And if you can wait a little longer, there is a new Captiva expected later this year, with even more power and features.

GIMME MORE

I currently drive a Maruti Suzuki Esteem VXi, and I now want to switch to an SUV within a budget of Rs 10 lakh. It has to be an 8-seater, fun to drive, maintenance-free and very comfortable. After test driving the Tata Safari, Mahindra Scorpio and Toyota Innova, I’ve zeroed in on the Scorpio. Do you think it’s a good choice? Is there a new Scorpio expected any time soon?

Teji Hothi, via email

We would all like to have everything, but we can’t! The Scorpio is relatively more fun to drive, but not necessarily the most comfortable. The Innova is comfortable and reliable, but not necessarily fun, while the Safari is good as a highway cruiser. Given your parameters, the Scorpio seems to be the best bet. We don’t expect any significant changes to the Scorpio this year, and while the Safari will get updated sometime later this year, the other new entrant will be Renault with the Duster in 2012. So until then, it seems the Scorpio may be what you are looking for.