Vehicles
Showrooms sell you EMI, colour and a sunroof. What decides five years of ownership is the safety rating, the fuel or powertrain that suits your real running, boot and ground clearance for Indian roads, and service cost per year — none of which are on the price banner.
A few questions about your situation, not about the product.
Answer all 4 questions to see the spec sheet to shop with.
Independent crash-test stars for adult and child occupants.
Why it matters
This is the only comparable safety number; airbag count alone tells you nothing about body-shell strength.
What to check
Ratings apply to a specific variant and year. Base variants are often tested differently from top trims.
The powertrain — what you refill, and how the running cost behaves.
Why it matters
Break-even depends on your monthly kilometres, not on which fuel is fashionable.
What to check
Diesel/CNG make sense above roughly 1,200–1,500 km a month; EVs need reliable home charging, not just public chargers.
Cc, and whether the engine is naturally aspirated or turbocharged; torque is pulling force.
Why it matters
Torque low in the rev range makes city driving relaxed; peak horsepower matters mostly on highways.
What to check
Small turbo-petrols give great brochure figures but real mileage drops sharply with a heavy foot.
How gears are changed.
Why it matters
AMT is cheap but jerky; CVT is smooth for city; DCT is quick but costlier to repair; torque converter is the most durable automatic.
What to check
Ask the out-of-warranty repair cost for the automatic before choosing it.
Claimed fuel economy is measured in lab conditions.
Why it matters
City mileage is typically 20–30% below the ARAI number, more with AC and traffic.
What to check
Compare owner-reported mileage for your city, and check tank size for range between fills.
Height under the car (mm) and luggage volume (litres).
Why it matters
Under ~165 mm laden clearance scrapes on speed breakers; boot under 300 L struggles with family travel.
What to check
Quoted clearance is usually unladen — full car with five people sits lower.
Scheduled service intervals, labour rates, parts price and expected resale value.
Why it matters
Two cars at the same price can differ by a lakh over five years in service and depreciation.
What to check
Ask for the brand's published service-cost schedule for 5 years/50,000 km in writing.
ESC/ESP, ABS with EBD, ISOFIX, TPMS, 360 camera, ADAS.
Why it matters
Electronic stability control prevents crashes; airbags only reduce injury after one.
What to check
ESC and six airbags are often top-variant only. Confirm variant-wise, not brochure-wide.
On-road price is 10–15% above ex-showroom; add insurance renewals and yearly service before you compare two cars.
