Hi, I currently own a 2022 Toyota Innova Crysta B6 diesel automatic, and my usage is quite low at around 400–500 km per month. Please suggest whether I should sell the car or continue using it. Also, if I decide to upgrade, which new car would you recommend that offers a similar size and comfort?

Autocar India

•1d

For your requirements, the Toyota Innova Crysta diesel 8-seater (manual) fits you best. It is the only one here that can seat all eight comfortably, and its diesel pulls strongly even with a full load, so it won’t feel like your Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. Ride comfort is calm on bad roads, the seats are supportive for parents, and Toyota’s track record over 6-7 years is hard to beat.Two things to note: most Crysta trims are manual, so city traffic needs some left‑leg effort, and the on-road price may sit a little above Rs. 25 lakh depending on your city.Overall, for your family size and long-term, the Innova Crysta 8-seater is the right upgrade.

Toyota Innova Crysta

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga

Autocar India

•2d

Between the two, we would lean toward the Mahindra XEV 9e. Since you already own a Toyota Innova Crysta, you already have practicality, family hauling and long-distance duties well covered, so your second car does not need to duplicate that role.The bigger differentiator is actually the way the two drive. The XEV 9e has a more balanced suspension setup and feels more composed. Overall, the 9S is tuned noticeably softer and can feel bouncy or a little floaty at times, especially for rear seat passengers over undulating roads. If you are using this as a personal EV, that alone makes the 9e the nicer car to live with.

Mahindra XEV 9e

Toyota Innova Crysta

Autocar India

•3d

We think you are overcomplicating this slightly, so let us simplify it. Your usage pattern is actually very clear: very low city running, occasional long road trips, and you want this to likely be your last car. That changes the answer completely.A pure EV can absolutely handle your weekly 80 km city usage with ease, but if you already know that your occasional road trips with two dogs will create charging anxiety or force overly rigid planning, then that emotional friction matters. A “last car” should make life easier, not add a layer of planning every time you head out.A plug in hybrid sounds perfect on paper because yes, it is effectively both an EV and a hybrid. But the trade off is exactly what you suspect: more complexity, higher cost and right now, very little real choice in India. Mainstream plug in hybrids are still some distance away, and even when they arrive, expect them to be expensive. Unless you are happy waiting a few years, we would not base your decision around future promises.Which brings us to the practical answer: buy a strong hybrid and stop feeling guilty about using it in the city. A good strong hybrid will do a surprising amount of low speed urban driving in EV mode anyway, so you are not “wasting” fuel in the way a conventional petrol would. More importantly, it completely solves the road trip question without asking you to retain an ageing 2007 Swift purely as backup.Keeping the Swift only for occasional road trips while buying an EV for 80 km a week feels like an inefficient two car solution unless you have a sentimental reason to keep it.If we were in your shoes, we would buy something like a Toyota Hyryder or Innova Hycross hybrid and enjoy the simplicity.

Maruti Suzuki Swift

Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder

Toyota Innova HyCross