captivating choice

q: I want a new car and can’t choose between the Honda CR-V automatic and the Chevrolet Captiva. Which one should I go for? Should I wait for the Captiva automatic or the Toyota Fortuner? My driving is mostly confined to the city. Good resale value would be a bonus.

Sarbjeet

a: The Captiva automatic is the best since you’re driving mainly in the city. The CR-V auto is too expensive to run as it guzzles petrol and the Fortuner is too big for city use. With the Captiva auto you get FWD too, which is one of the reasons why it’ll cost around Rs 2.5 lakh more than the manual. But resale values are yet to be seen for the Captiva.

cash crunch

q: I want a car and have narrowed down to the Spark and the Swift. Cost and performance-wise, I settled on the Spark, but am in a fix after news of GM going bankrupt. If I buy the Spark, am I assured of full service back-up or will it end up like Daewoo?

Ramakanth

a: General Motors’ financial problem is of huge concern to many, but in India it has already allocated its funds to go ahead with a new factory and new models. So here, it has the resources for short term survival. Don’t worry about service or aftersales getting affected. Go for the Spark.

market woes

q: I’ve been planning to buy a Lexus LX470 for some time. When is it coming to India?

Uday Jain

a: The Lexus LX470 has been replaced by the new LX570, but there are no plans for it in India right now. Toyota has been toying with the idea of bringing its premium brand into the country but with the slump in the market, any such decision has been postponed.You can bring in the LX via the grey market route, but it’s not advisable. For the same budget you can go for other SUVs like the Audi Q7, Mercedes M-Class and BMW X5.

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