Pet shop

I want to buy a new car with my average usage being 800-1,000 km a month. I am unable to decide whether to opt for a petrol or diesel. I have a four-member family and will be running the car within the city during the week. On the weekends I will be using it for occasional trips to New Delhi and the like. I have a budget of Rs 8.5 lakh and I am considering the Honda City, Jazz, Hyundai Verna, Nissan Sunny, Volkswagen Vento and Fiat Linea. Which do I buy?

Nitin Kumar, Chandigarh

For your kind of running, there is no reason to invest additional money in a diesel car — you can go for a petrol car with all the safety options loaded (especially since you will be driving on the highways). And you have the budget for it too. So, of the cars you have shortlisted, you can go for the Honda City or the Hyundai Verna petrol, depending on your personal preference.

The green scene

I want to buy a new car, but am confused between the Hyundai Santro GLS LPG and the Maruti Suzuki WagonR LXi LPG. Please tell me which of these cars is better overall, and if you do have other options within my budget of Rs 4.2 lakh, please do let me know.

Abhinav Malhotra, Jammu

The Santro LPG is a good car to buy — it is a better car to drive compared to the WagonR. If you are looking for low running costs, instead of LPG, you can also look at diesel — the Chevrolet Beat Diesel is low on running costs and is more practical on an everyday basis versus an LPG car.

Sunny side up

I want to buy a sedan in the range of Rs 5-7 lakh. I have a daily commute of 30 km, so do I opt for a petrol or a diesel car, and which car do I buy?

Ashish, via email

Assuming you have a round trip of 30 km, you could stick with a petrol car (particularly if most of that is a regular work commute). Your best bet in the market is a Nissan Sunny XL. It has lots of features, is very spacious on the inside, is decently built and you get a good number of safety features as well. It is, quite frankly, the best petrol entry-level sedan in the country today.

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