My parents have used a Zen Estilo for the past 13 years and now want to upgrade. The car is used mostly for city driving with occasional long trips. Their budget is around ₹10 lakh. Which car would be most suitable for them?

Autocar India

•8h

Push back politely and tie full payment to a supervised PDI before registration; most dealers agree when money is on the line. With an EV, you want to catch battery, charging and software issues early, and once it is registered, a swap becomes far harder. Ask for the VIN and Form 22 by email and propose a 30-minute supervised inspection with your inspector at their yard, with their staff present, no photos of other cars, and you signing an indemnity. If they won’t allow yard entry, ask for the same PDI in their workshop or delivery bay before invoicing and registration. Put this in writing on the booking email: PDI by customer or professional, before invoicing, with the right to reject allocation if defects are found. Make the PDI EV-specific: check odometer is low, no warning lights, charge port door and latch, both charging cables present, wallbox details noted, AC charging demoed for a few minutes, app pairing works, software version recorded, panel gaps and paint closely inspected. If the sales rep still says no, escalate to the dealer principal and the carmaker’s customer care with your written request. Be ready to switch dealers. The only real downside is it can delay delivery a bit.

Autocar India

•9h

Get the Skoda Slavia 1.0 automatic. Its 6-speed auto is the smoothest in this price band, it has the best front seat space and headroom for tall drivers, and it’s genuinely nice to drive without feeling tired in the city.At 6'1", you will sit comfortably with a relaxed knee angle and good visibility, and the steering and pedal position suit long legs. The engine is quiet in traffic, but has enough pull for quick overtakes on the highway. Ride is absorbent, so bad patches will not beat you up, and the boot is huge for weekend trips. Expect roughly 12-14kpl in mixed use.The only catch is the lower automatic trims are simpler inside and you may have to stretch slightly on-road beyond Rs. 15 lakh depending on your city. If you can, go one trim up for better kit. Also in just about two to three months, Skoda will release an updated version so if you can wait, we would recommend you do so.

Skoda Slavia

Autocar India

•10h

Go for the Maruti Suzuki Victoris hybrid automatic for city use and the lowest fuel bills. In stop-go traffic, it runs on electric power a lot of the time, so you will see around 20-plus kpl in town, far better than regular petrol automatics. It feels calm and smooth at low speeds, and the steering is light and easy enough to twirl in traffic and also reassuring at higher speeds. Resale should be strong too as with most Maruti Suzuki models, plus with hybrids increasing in demand, your resale should be healthy.

Maruti Suzuki Victoris