Howdy! Namaste! Ni Hao Ma ?
Hey folks. I used to be in Houston, and now I live in New Delhi, India.
A long long time ago, on car talk…I had the great fortune of being advised by Docnick and CSA and some other really helpful people on cartalk.com . I bought a wonderful little 2007 model Chevy Cobalt for 5000 USD in 2009, and sold it for 4800 USD when I left the USA in 2011. It was a great little car, a stick shift.
I could not have had the excellent experience of car buying that I had, without the help of Docnick and some other great people on here. Common Sense Anser, The Same Mountainbike, and others whom I miss.
So, again, in 2013, I come to the most reliable source of good car advice on the planet……
My father’s company usually buys him a company car, and he is in the market for one at this time. What is being offered at this time, and my dad is keen on, are the Toyota Corolla Altis, and the Toyota Innova.
So, we currently own a Honda Civic [also known as the Honda City, here in India] and a small little Suzuki Wagon R, which is roughly the size and performance of the Honda Jazz/Fit.
We love both of the cars, and are going to keep them even as we buy the newer one. The Honda City is automatic transmission; the Suzuki is a stick shift. Both the proposed Toyota’s are stick shifts; the Innova minivan is a diesel engine, while the Corolla Altis is a gasoline version.
So, the Corolla Altis is the same old Corolla which has been sold by Toyota since 1964. The Toyota Innova mini-van, interestingly, has never been introduced in the North American market, even though it has been selling in East Asia/Indonesia since 1976; Toyota has some other minivan models in the USA, I am not sure which ones.
So, we test drove both of the Toyota models. They cost around the same rough figure of 20,000 USD, give or take a few.
The Innova station Wagon has a beautiful ride. Its soft. Feels like riding a pillow down the highway/city roads. The Innova diesel has a flat torque curve and a constant torque of 200 N.m from 1000rpm till 4000 rpm (pretty nice)
The Toyota Corolla has more power on tap (138 bhp) than the Innova, and a weight of 1200 kg, vs. 100 bhp and 1600 kg on the Innova. The Corolla has lower torque, and at a higher RPM; 160 N.m at 4000 rpm. Thus the Innova is torquier, and runs similar to the Corolla….but…The Corolla is a faster burning petrol engine as well; hence, the Corolla feels more responsive than the Innova…but the Innova is also pretty decent.
One standout quality of the Innova, is that its really soft ride. Indian roads are generally, quite undulated, and potholed at times….the Innova takes them in its stride like NOTHING else. The Corolla on the other hand, is just a slight improvement on what we have currently; the Honda City A/T on the potholes. The Honda’s genes point it in the way of a precise, better handling ride. The Toyota (Corolla as well as Innova) is more ambivalent; it waffles about the road, its steering responds after a small lag.
So, dear friends, I request you to give me advice about which car to buy from both of them:
Innova
- es:
- Great passenger ride. Soft , comfortable. Good AC. Vents at the back seats
- Diesel, is cheaper than Gasoline in India. [ Socialism means that the farming sector gets fuel subsidies to transport produce to the market]
- Lots of room. Plenty of space for my parents to have many people hop in!
-s - Airbags: Only Driver side
- Gear throw is large.
- 2.5 liter engine, diesel. Gearbox vibrates a lot, gives a slight Taxi feel to the driving.
- Taxi image in India; since every self respecting ‘people-mover’ and his uncle in India has a Toyota Innova minivan.
Corolla;
+
- Better looking sedan according to my dad. He says that it looks cooler, and now that he is more senior in his organization, and many of his peers have Corollas, this will be a good buy.
- Good pickup and more get up and go .
- Both passenger and driver airbags. The Innova does not have passenger airbags. No side impact airbags in either of them.
- In fact….in India, it is not compulsory to have them , even now….and not many people have an issue with this lack of safety-people are less aware—also they use seat belts and are happy at the slower speeds that most Indian driving takes place at—the potholes don’t allow for too much speeding as you can imagine
- Less comfort. You feel the potholes whereas in the Innova you don’t feel any of them.
- Not much of an upgrade from our Honda City. And the Honda City is an A/T, so I expect my Dad to use the Honda City more, even after buying a new Corolla!
- Not much of a capability leap above our Honda City.
- Less gas mileage than the Innova. 9 km per liter…Innova is 10 km per liter on an average. {multiply by 3 to get an approximate idea of USA gas MPG}
- Diesel is 50 Rupees per liter….Petrol is 75 Rupees per liter. Innova is thus 50 % per liter cheaper to run, immediately. Transport lobby in India is strong, and it is not expected that the price of diesel will be raised a lot.
Our requirements from a car, to be honest, are perfectly met with the current 2 cars that we have. My father , mother, grandmother live together and me and my sister are nearby. A five seater, the Honda City, fits us okay with luggage as well. Our needs are modest.
Thank you very much in advance for your well intentioned advice and comments, and apologies for a long post. Cheers!
[And I will honor my promise of beer to Docknick and CSA whenever and wherever I meet them……!]