Respected members, we are a family of five, and I want to buy an SUV. My driving will be about 70% city and 30% highway. I am looking for a car with good fuel economy and an automatic transmission. Which one should I buy, considering both 5-seater and 7-seater options?

Autocar India

•4h

With your budget of Rs 15 lakh, you can move past the Kia Carens and up to the Carens Clavis, which is essentially a facelift of the Carens, with more features and an additional engine option. The trickier choice is which engine to choose, between the 1.5-litre petrol and 1.5-litre diesel, both of which are available with a manual.The diesel is the more obvious choice, given that your usage is 80% on the highway, where the additional torque will be beneficial, not to mention the better mileage. However, in your budget, you'll only get it in the base HTE spec. If that's fine with you, then you should go ahead with that; otherwise, note that the Carens 1.5 petrol MT is available in the higher HTE (EX) trim, with more features.You could also consider the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga, which comes in petrol and CNG guises, has lower maintenance costs, and is far more affordable than the Kia.

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga

Kia Carens Clavis

Kia Carens

Autocar India

•1d

The closely related Renault Triber and new Nissan Gravite are the best options for you. Both compact MPVs are well within your budget and will surprise you with the versatility and practicality they offer within a small footprint. There's plenty of seating flexibility with middle row slide and recline functions, making it easy to balance space for the third row of passengers. You also have the option to remove the third row seats when not in use to create space for luggage.The interiors are also well designed with enough new-age features like a touchscreen, digital dials, wireless charging, auto climate control and AC vents at the back. The 1-litre engine isn't big on power but is fine for city use. It does feel underpowered on highway drives, though. While you can get fully-loaded AMT auto versions within your budget, we'd recommend opting for the manual gearbox.The differences between the Renault Triber and Nissan Gravite are merely cosmetic. You could base your buying decision based on proximity to a dealer and service support. In case you want something larger, there is the option of the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. However, only the base LXI trim is available under Rs 10 lakh.

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga

Renault Triber

Nissan Gravite

Autocar India

•22h

You haven't mentioned your budget, but since you're considering a brand new Toyota Innova Crysta GX Plus variant, it is safe to assume that you're comfortable spending close to Rs 25 lakhs (on-road). Since this vehicle will be used for commercial purposes, it would be better to buy a new car to start with. You will be able to claim tax refunds as well as benefit from asset depreciation in your company's books. Additionally, you get the peace of mind of a new vehicle, and the backing of a company warranty.To address the second part of your question, the Maruti Ertiga VXI MT or Toyota Rumion S MT costs half as much as an Innova Crysta GX Plus, resulting in a tremendous saving. In fact, you can even buy two cars for the price of one Innova. Both, Ertiga and Rumion are equally reliable. And even though these are petrol-powered, they're quite fuel efficient, and their maintenance costs will be lower than that of the diesel Crysta. Between the Ertiga and Rumion, even though they're the same, the Toyota is a bit more expensive, hence purely from a savings perspective, the Ertiga makes more sense.Overall, all three cars you've listed are reliable, dependable, and are backed by the widespread, strong network of Toyota and Maruti. It is up to you to decide whether you want to buy a new Crysta GX or if you're happy to buy one, or even examples of the Maruti Ertiga and Toyota Rumion.Whichever you pick, these are cars you can't go wrong with.

Toyota Innova Crysta

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga

Toyota Rumion