Car maintenance cost comparison Part 4: Compact SUVs

We carry on from Part 2 and Part 3 of our Maintenance Cost Comparison, and bring you Part 4, which deals with arguably the hottest segment on the market right now – Compact SUVs.

• Maintenance costs calculated over 60,000km
• Compact SUV maintenance costs compared
• Factors in service parts & life, labour rates and service intervals

Compact SUVs seem to be just the perfect body style for India, combining the space and practicality of an SUV with the compact footprint of a small car. So much so that there have been two new launches in the segment in 2020 (the Sonet and Urban Cruiser, which are obviously too fresh to be a part of this survey), all the others have received major updates, and there are two more right around the corner.

Unfortunately, Maruti did not wish to participate in this study. However, we did manage to source the costs for the Vitara Brezza from various dealer sources. Thus, the prices for the Vitara Brezza should be treated as estimates.

Just how much does the overall maintenance for these SUVs cost over 60,000km? Read on to find out, and be sure to check out our criteria and methodology for this detailed study in Part 1, which dealt with Premium and Executive SUVs.

Compact SUVs maintenance cost comparison

This segment sees a fair fight between a number of players like the Maruti Brezza, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport and the Hyundai Venue. We’ve even included Honda’s compact crossover, the WR-V.

While all other manufacturers took part in the study, Maruti did not. However, we did manage to source the costs for the Brezza petrol from various dealer sources.

• All the compact SUVs have their service intervals set at either one year or 10,000km, except the Tata Nexon whose intervals are every year or 15,000km.

• The Ford Freestyle with the 1.2-litre petrol as well as the 1.5-litre diesel turns out to be the most economical to run.

• In the case of the Hyundai Venue labour is chargeable from the 30,000km service onwards at a flat Rs 2,220, making it among the more affordable to run.

• The Honda WR-V is one of the pricier cars to maintain in the segment, with the petrol version’s maintenance cost per km being even higher than most of its diesel competitors.

• The running costs of the Tata Nexon is higher than the Honda, due to costlier replacement parts. The Tata also requires a minor check-up service at intervals of 7,500km, which is chargeable at Rs 1,000 for each service starting with the 22,500km check-up (which we have included in the second, third and fourth service costs).

• Surprisingly, the Maruti Vitara Brezza is the priciest to maintain here. And while its service costs are lower than that of the petrol Nexon, it requires two more services up to the 60,000 mark.

Did you find this maintenance cost comparison helpful? Tell us what you think in the comments section, and stay tuned for more maintenance cost comparison surveys of other segments that are coming soon.