Spending the Weekend

So, i guess blogging is taking its toll on me as well.. like millions of others who are in the habit of writing everything...
Today I am going to type something about what do i do on a weekend usually, rather what am i planning to do this weekend.. and the lucky winner activity is "Going on test drives in a few cars".
I guess buying a car is not at all difficult, what is difficult is choosing which one to buy.. there is so much to choose from.. and there is a constant conflict between what you want to buy, and what should you buy... lemme explain...

Personally i would like to buy a Scorpio... but the issue here is that dad does not like it.. and its not too convinient in terms of maintainence as well... i am actually tired of driving the old Maruti 800... over 6 years that i am driving that car.. six is it.. lemme recall.. i remember driving this to my college and i started college in 1996.. i guess its about 7 years that i am driving 1990 make Maruti 800... and i really need to graduate to something which is a li'il higher on the road.. the least expensive seems to be a scorpio and it does not look like a cab either...

Ok.. the next choice then comes to the C-class Sedans like Honda City, Ford Ikon, Baleno, Accent, Corsa, Esteem and all.. not necessarily in that order... My views about all of them follow:

City : By far the best choice for a C-class sedan, thanks to its awesome performance, and the new reduced prices... the older model City still costs about 4 Lacs in the used car market.. great mileage of about 15-17 kmpl is a plus for this car.. and being a japanese car.. the maintainence costs are low too... one of the concerns being that the accesseries and parts are very expensive.. one bang or a brush.. and you be prepared to shell out the kinda money that you had not imagines.. these glass parts and the bumpers and all, which are most vulnerable to damage have a 50% depreciation immidiatly and that is why repairs are expensive.. you gotta spend some money for sure... Ok anyway.. lets move on...

Ford IKON : Great looks, awesome car.. but the mileage part of it... not too attractive.. the best buy in IKONs is the 1.8D EXI recently launched with the reduced prices.. makes it a very close competitor of the new City... i mean one litre of diesel can be expected to last for anything between 16-18 kms in the city and definitely over 20 on the highways... and its a great feeling to drive this car.. the petrol versions.. not sure about them.. i feel that the 1300 cc engine would not do justice to the car at all.. but it still gives an ok performance.. about 10-12 kmpl.... the repairs again come up as a expensive deal... but still an intelligent choice is the 1.8D which costs about 6 lacs ex. showroom.

Come to the likes of Corsa.. the tank on the road.. German technology.. and at its best.. the car with that feel good factor.. but a very average mileage... heavy car you see... but very comfortable... and add the great looks.. overall a great package.. but we middle class families would not prefer a car which gallops with gallons of gas !!!

Baleno : I find this a pretty decent buy especially after the revised prices.. ok mileage... good comfort level.. and the tag of a maruti suzuki.. still remains and rules the market as the most reliable service network...

Accent : Don't even want to talk about it.. Korean car manufacturers are cheaters.. i will not be talking about a Santro as well.. that has been ruled out because of the origin of its manufacturer.. run like a dream for a couple of years and once it starts troubling.. then its nightmares...

Esteem: Liked the older one better... changing the looks by making it look like a old Honda city.. does that really help..Higher and a bigger front grill.. stupid look tail lights... one thing that i loved about the other esteem is the tail lights.. they had a great road presence... but the new one.. huh... haaahh... not taken... but it still would remain the entry level car for the middle class... poor man's luxury car as one of my friends calls it...

Hey i forgot to mention the Fiat Petra.. i still need to learn more about that car.. it is a good looking car.. looks very compact but looses out points when it comes to fuel averages... will find out more and write about it...

Ok, now to the every one's cars... The Wagon Rs, Indica, Palio, Matiz (expect it as Chevy Spark early next year i.e. 2005)

Wagon R : great deal with Petrol cars.. good mileage.. good comfort.. good value for money... good space... bad tyres rather small and thin tyres... dates looks.. can be improved yes !!!! would i still buy it !!! yes... i dunno why maruti has to screw up the tail lights in the name of a face lift.. they did it with Wagon R then with the Zen and then with the Esteem... But i would rate Wagon as the best value for money considering the total cost of ownership of this car..

Indica : Good value for money especially after the new facelift they have done.. i wonder when would they have the turbo charged engine in the indica as well.. Like the Indigo.. the Indica with a elongated butt.. You just cannot find the difference between the two cars, if you are not able to notice the boot...anyway.. with an average of 15-17 kmpl in city and over 18 on the highway... its a good buy.. and the AC is great.. the only thing that i do not like.. rather a couple of things that i did not like are that the wheels are still those 13 inch wheels.. with that cosmetic upgrade around the wheels, it would have looked better with 14 inch wheels and a li'il wider ones would have added to the beauty more... anyway.. i can go ahead and make those changes if ibuy this one...

ZEN : Too small for us.. my Dad and me both of us are almost 6 foot tall.. and there is no way anyone can fit comfortably on the rear seat with us sitting in the front... very low ground clearence as well... which makes it kiss all those delhi speed breakers if we are driving with 4 ppl onboard...

Palio : Good but lacks on mileage and after sales... the latter being a mjor factor.. i would like to spend some time with the PalioD and see how it is like...

Here i come to the end of my observations about the cars i mentioned above.. i would like to have first hand information about any of these cars and any help in making me decide on a car would be greatly appreciated... I am spending this weekend test driving some of these and see where i get the feel good factor...