We are a family of four and wish to purchase a car under Rs. 10 lakh. Our parking area is quite small which is only enough to accommodate a car as big as Swift. My usage will be around 60% city driving and 40% highway driving. Kindly suggest a good car suitable for long-term ownership of at least 10 years.

Autocar India

•2d

Instead of your take-home salary, it would be better to help us with the budget you are comfortable allocating for your new car purchase, because several factors affect your capacity to spend like age, responsibilities, existing liabilities, etc.Assuming you plan to sell your outgoing Alto 800 and use the sales proceeds as a down payment, with an EMI of around Rs 15,000, you could look at cars with an on-road price of Rs 8.50-9 lakh. For the money, you could consider a Maruti Baleno or Toyota Glanza, both of which will feel like a proper upgrade compared to your outgoing car. SUV alternatives are the Tata Punch and Hyundai Exter, and if you prefer a sedan, the Maruti Dzire is also a good buy.

Maruti Suzuki Baleno

Tata Punch

Hyundai Exter

Toyota Glanza

Autocar India

•1d

Mostly city office runs, about 1,000km a month, and a Rs. 8.5 lakh cap with Rs. 4 lakh for down payment and an EMI under Rs. 10,000. In this use case, you can consider the Maruti Suzuki Swift VXi manual. It is easy to drive and park, handles bad roads and speed breakers well, and feels steady at city speeds. The petrol motor is smooth at low speeds with good drivability, and the light controls make traffic easy. Fuel efficiency is also excellent, as our real-world tests revealed 14kpl in the city and 19kpl on the highway.Trade-offs: the rear seat is better for two adults than three, and quick highway overtakes need a shift to a lower gear.If you want an alternative with a taller seating position, consider the Tata Punch. It is just as easy to drive in traffic and rides well on bad roads, but fuel efficiency won’t be as good as the Swift’s.For a first car used mainly in the city, the Swift lines up best with your budget and comfort needs.

Maruti Suzuki Swift

Tata Punch

Autocar India

•3d

With 100-125 km a day and Rs. 15 lakh budget, the Tata Nexon EV Creative 45kWh fits your brief best. It will cut your running cost sharply, stays in budget, and the single-gear drive feels far smoother than your Swift’s automatic in stop-go traffic. For your mix of city and 80-90 kph state roads, it moves easily at low speeds and stays steady at cruise. The higher seat and comfortable ride also help on broken patches and speed breakers.Do check two things: you should be able to park at home and plug in overnight, and at 80-90kph with AC the range will drop a bit, so keep some spare range in hand. In our real world tests, we managed 355km on a single charge so you will need to charge it once every two days. If you must go CNG, consider the Tata Altroz iCNG automatic. It lowers fuel spend and keeps the easy drive, but it feels slower on CNG, the boot is smaller, and CNG pump queues can eat time. For your daily run and savings goal, go with a Nexon EV.

Tata Altroz

Tata Nexon EV

Maruti Suzuki Swift