Small wonder

WHICH CAR?

I wish to have your opinion on the first car I should buy. I stay in a company township and hence my city use is minimum. Most of the driving involves highway stints of 50-60 km, once or twice a month, to the nearest city. My budget is about Rs 4.5 lakh and I consider comfort, fuel efficiency and safety my main criteria. I've narrowed down my choices to the Fiat Palio Stile (petrol or diesel), the Hyundai Getz Prime 1.1, the Chevrolet Aveo U-VA and the Hyundai i10. Please recommend the best one for me.

Samir Shah, via email

Waste no time and book yourself a Hyundai i10. The car is reasonably comfortable on the inside and is easy to drive around town as well as on the highway, with a suspension setup that acquits itself well. It also has decent fuel efficiency "" expect an average of 12-13 kpl once your car is run-in. Opt for the Magna variant that comes with ABS and driver-passenger airbags as standard.

Captiva audience

I'm a 28-year-old businessman and am looking to buy a diesel SUV that is easy to drive and has a good performance. After going through several SUVs, I've set my sights on the Chevrolet Captiva. It fits my requirements but I am worried about overall reliability, service issues with the Chevrolet brand and resale value. Are my worries justified?

Amit Jain, via email

Chevrolet has improved its game over time and strengthened its service setup. The cars are also fairly reliable and resale values are showing an upward trend. The Captiva is a capable vehicle, is built well, offers breezy performance and should serve you well over time.

Automatic choice

I am looking for an automatic transmission small car for Rs 5 lakh. What are my choices? Is the Hyundai i10 likely to be available with an automatic transmission?

Anil K, via email

Hyundai is the only player in this segment with an automatic variant, with the Santro Automatic. It is a fairly good car with a four-speed automatic and decent pulling power. The i10 isn't currently available with an automatic in the domestic market, it's meant only for exports for now. We expect Hyundai to launch the automatic variant of the i10 some time this year, but they have not committed on the timing yet. Your other option is to look out for a well-maintained Honda City from 2003-05, which has a CVT transmission. Though it may be a bit of an effort for you to seek it out in the used car mart, we think it's worth it, as the City CVT is a brilliant car for the city, and is fuel efficient as well.

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