Best commercial MUV/SUV

[dewank 4]

Hi all. We are planning to buy a vehicle to be used for commercial purpose i.e, for sight seeing, outstation tours, etc. The car would mostly operate in the hills.

My major priorities are fuel efficiency, comfort and maintainance costs in the same order and the budget is max. 8.5 Lacs.

I have short listed the following cars, not in the order of the preference.

1. Chevrolet Enjoy

2. Mahindra Bolero

3. Mahindra Quanto/Xylo

4. Maruti Ertiga

5. Nissan Evalia

6. TATA Sumo Grande

Please suggest the best option out of the above mentioned Vehicles.

[dr_nishu 198]

Choose it either from Maruti Ertiga or Mahindra Quanto. They're quite compact, modern, comfortable, fuel efficient & quite interesting vehicles.

[librankur 39]

My picks would be the Xylo.

I find Ertiga,Enjoy and Quanto too small for the job

Bolero and Sumo can be used to ferry construction workers not tourists

Evalia no one buys,is ample on space and on the expensive side.(Good buy personally if you ever plan to increase your budget)

Enjoy is the cheapest of the lot.

Xylo a proven workhorse but the body role is evident on hilly curves.

[sachins 51]

I presume that since you will using it for commercial purpose so it has to be 7 seater and Xylo it is then.

Else if you require comfortable 5 seater then Ertiga fits the bill perfectly.

[dewank 4]

Thanks for your inputs. @librankur, I was personally inclined to Evalia but the budget constrains put that deal off.

My current preference is Enjoy. The interiors are very car like and feel a segment higher than that of Xylo, Bolero and Sumo. Moreover, it has better space than Ertiga and Quanto and can easily accommodate 6 people plus driver.

Its my first priority as of now.

[sachins 51]

@dewank, as per your requirements, let's put in this way between Xylo, Ertiga and Enjoy:

For fuel efficiency: Ertiga, Enjoy, Xylo

For comfort: Xylo, Enjoy, Ertiga

For maintenance: Enjoy/Ertiga, Xylo (Chevrolet website lists their promise package for Enjoy diesel @ 30k which will include all periodic maintenance and running repairs for 3 yrs/45k kms)

However, when it comes to running in hilly region, with full load, you will require a more powerful engine and here Xylo is the best option.

[Hersch 4]

Hi Dewank! Trust you would be using the vehicle mostly for touring purposes and hence, ease of repairs outside urban confines and lower costs of maintenance would be a major criteria. Also, since you would mostly be travelling in hilly region, good ride and comfort would play a huge role in making your travel more memorable. The vehicle should also have good ground clearance thanks to the quality of roads we have in semi-urban and rural parts of the country. Lastly but more importantly, the vehicle should be easy in the pocked with low cost of ownership with a budget restriction of 8.5 lacs.

Looking at all the above requirements, I think there can be no better vehicle than a Xylo (7 seater). It promises great comfort to all passengers with nice seats and an effective air-conditioning. It has good ground clearance and suspension setup to take care of the biggest of the potholes our roads could throw in its way. It now comes fitted with the H series (mHawk) engine which currently does duty on the Scorpio and thus promises power to climb those steep inclines with ease. Most importantly, it has a very low cost of ownership with easy availability of spares should you require any. I think if you bargain a good discount from the dealers, you would be able to strike a deal within your budget of 8.5 lacs.

Whatever you decide, do not buy anything without taking a test drive atleast 2-3 times with atleast 6 people aboard the vehicle.

P.S.: You can also look at the Ertiga in case the maximum number of people travelling is restricted to 6 (4 adults and 2 small kids). However, I feel its more of an urban soft-roader and might struggle on poor roads in semi-urban and rural areas as compared to a Xylo.

[Sstar 77]

@dewank: Looking at your needs and decision making criteria. I would suggest you to go with Xylo. The two main reasons of mine to say this are: 1) M&M maintenance is way low than any other car maker in the Indian market. 2) Xylo is perfect 7/8 seater with apmple leg room in all three rows and all three rows equipped with A/c vents. So comfort is not a complaint here.

As you mentioned that you are inclined a little to Enjoy, however my only reason to not to go with it is that though the 1.3 MJD Fiat engine is efficient more than Xylo's one but since Enjoy is a new product in the market so it needs some time in the market to be tried, tested and certified on maintenance front. Otherwise, there is no issue at all with Enjoy in terms of comfort and FE that you are asking for.

Edited May 16, 2013 by Sstar