SPOILT FOR CHOICE
My 74-year-old father wants to change his Honda City and buy a midsize SUV. He self-drives inside the city and travels around 500km per month with maybe two long trips in a year. Which SUV would you recommend? He wants a petrol automatic that is good to drive, isn’t very expensive to maintain, has some prestige value and a reasonable resale value. We have shortlisted the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, VW Taigun and Skoda Kushaq. I feel the Seltos is not very safe and the Kushaq might be expensive to maintain. The Skoda dealership where we live is also a matter of concern. Do guide us on which to buy, including the variant.
AnantharamanTR, Thrissur
For your elderly father, a logical upgrade from his City would be something that is primarily easy to drive in the city. The Creta or Seltos with the naturally aspirated 1.5-litre petrol, mated to a CVT transmission, would be the ideal choice for the smoothness and responsiveness it offers at low speeds.
The Kushaq, which comes with turbo-petrols, has a bit of lag at low speeds, which your father may not like. Spares and service costs of Skoda have improved a lot now and, as you say, it’s a safe car. That’s not to say the Seltos or Creta are unsafe. The top-spec variants have good safety features.
