5-seater cars in India (164)

autocar.india

•18h

The Mahindra XEV 9e is the right call, and go for the bigger 79kWh battery. You’re doing 125km a day, mostly on the highway, so range is what you’ll notice most. We got around 450km from a full charge in our test, which means plugging in every three days or so. The 9e is also lovely on the highway. The ride is plush and it feels planted at speed, which will make the switch from your Octavia easy.You don’t need a third row for five people. The 9e’s back seat is wide and the floor is flat, so three adults fit without a fuss, and the boot is huge, with a small extra one under the bonnet. The one thing to watch is the sloping roof. Anyone tall in the back may find their head close to the ceiling.In your case, we would skip the 9S six-seater. With captain’s chairs in the middle, someone in your family always ends up in the third row, and then there’s hardly any room for bags with the third row up. If you like the 9S, get the seven-seater instead. You all fit in two rows, and the third row folds away for luggage. It doesn’t ride as nicely as the 9e on the highway, though.

Mahindra XEV 9e

autocar.india

•23h

Given your usage pattern of 30-50km daily city driving with occasional highway trips, an EV is a very strong option. The running cost savings will be significant, and modern EVs are now genuinely usable for highway trips as long as you have home charging. The key is to choose an EV with a realistic range and a comfortable, spacious cabin, since this will be your primary car.The Tata Sierra EV 75kWh is the recommendation here. It offers a spacious, premium-feeling cabin, a comfortable ride and a usable real-world range that makes both city driving and occasional highway trips easy to manage. It also has good road presence and feels like a proper upgrade from a Honda City in terms of comfort and overall ownership experience.If you are still on the fence about EVs, the Maruti Suzuki Victoris Hybrid is the best ICE alternative. It is extremely efficient in the city, reliable and easy to live with, and the hybrid system keeps running costs low without any charging dependency.The decision comes down to your comfort with home charging. If you have it, the Sierra EV is the better long-term ownership proposition. If not, the Victoris Hybrid is the safer choice.

Maruti Suzuki Victoris

Tata Sierra EV

Honda City

autocar.india

•1d

Based on your father’s priorities and usage, we’d recommend the Honda Elevate SV manual as the most sensible upgrade, provided you can stretch your budget a wee bit. It’s currently around Rs 14.2 lakh on road in Kerala, though the final quote will depend on your location, insurance and any dealer offers.It builds on the Honda qualities your father already appreciates in his Honda Amaze, while adding a higher seating position, more ground clearance and a comfortable suspension that copes well with broken roads. That makes it well suited to his village-road driving, with the caveat that bigger potholes still need to be taken slowly The 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine is smooth, responsive and straightforward to drive. On steeper climbs, he may need to downshift rather than expect strong pulling power in a high gear. The cabin is comfortable, visibility is good and the boot is generous. Overall, it offers the fuss-free driving experience he’s enjoyed in the Amaze, in a more spacious package. Given his positive experience with the local Honda workshop, staying with the same service setup is another practical advantage.If Rs14 lakh is a firm ceiling, we’d look at the Maruti Suzuki Brezza 1.0 turbo-petrol. Its punchy engine should suit the uphill stretches, and your budget could allow a higher variant with more features. This Maruti Suzuki car also offers a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol, which is worth trying if he prefers smoother, more linear responses over outright punchWe’d favour the Elevate for comfort and familiarity, but have your father test-drive both on the kind of roads he actually uses before deciding.

Honda Elevate

Maruti Suzuki Brezza

Honda Amaze

autocar.india

•4d

Yes, it's time to retire the Ritz. Of the two cars you're considering, the Skoda 1.0 TSI is the right one. Both the Kylaq and the Kushaq use it, and either suits an enthusiast far better than the Thar. The engine is eager, the steering is sharp, and the chassis feels planted when you push it. Those are the things you'll value as someone who drives on track.The catch is your mileage. At 75-100 km a day, you'll cover close to 30,000km a year, and the petrol Skoda will cost noticeably more to run than a diesel. If that bothers you, test-drive the Mahindra XUV 3XO diesel. Its 1.5 diesel is one of the punchiest in its class; it has a roomy rear seat for your parents, and it'll be much cheaper to run, though it isn't as sharp to drive as the Skoda.The new Mahindra Thar isn't a good fit. It's tall to climb into for older passengers, the rear is cramped, and it isn't as settled as a regular SUV over 100km a day.Your Ritz has done well. Its 1.3 diesel runs a timing chain rather than a belt, which is why it's lasted. Drive the Skoda car and the 3XO back to back, and decide how much the extra fun is worth to you.

Skoda Kylaq

Skoda Kushaq

Mahindra Thar OG

Mahindra XUV 3XO

autocar.india

•5d

A crash in which the Ciaz suffered damage while the Slavia apparently came away without a visible mark can understandably make you question the car’s safety, but the extent of visible damage alone does not tell you which car is safer. More importantly, your 2023 Ciaz has already covered 60,000km, so the decision should be based on its structural condition, repair quality and your future usage rather than the accident itself.There is one reason to take the safety concern seriously. The Ciaz is an old design and a recent Global NCAP test gave it one star for adult occupant protection, with the bodyshell rated unstable. So if improved crash protection is your primary reason for changing cars, moving to a newer, independently crash tested model would be justified.

Skoda Slavia