The 5th-gen City is quite the all-rounder, has a smooth CVT and will be the more peaceful to own over 8 – 10 years. On the other hand, the Slavia has way more power & torque and European-car attributes, but is more expensive and being a Skoda, won’t be anywhere as hassle-free to own.
Skoda Slavia
Honda City
Maruti Ciaz
What you’ll like:
- Clean styling & big footprint. Among the longest & widest sedans from its class
- Value-for-money pricing that undercuts almost all rivals
- Spacious cabin with lots of practical features. Rear legroom is particularly impressive
- Petrol variant has now improved, thanks to the new 1.5L motor
- Soft, compliant ride quality. A suspension that’s tuned for comfort
- Big 510 liter boot will swallow your airport & holiday luggage
- Maruti’s excellent after-sales service, wide dealer network & fuss-free ownership experience
- Equipment such as the automatic LED headlamps, DRLs, 7″ touchscreen ICE, rear sunshade, cruise control, telematics system etc.
What you won’t:
- New 1.5L petrol is rather mediocre. Petrol engines of rivals are much superior
- No diesel option available after the introduction of BS6 emission norms
- 4-speed Automatic gearbox feels old & outdated
- Petrol Ciaz has gotten more expensive by 34k – 65k
- Uninvolving to drive. Enthusiasts, look elsewhere
- Average under-thigh support of the low rear seat. Also, limited rear headroom for 6 footers
- Light build & ordinary interior quality. The game has moved on with newer competitors
- Maruti has missed the opportunity of a true top-end variant with 6 airbags, sunroof, auto-wipers & more
Hyundai Verna
What you’ll like:
- A true all-rounder. Styling packs appeal too
- The overall package is well-priced. Offers good value for money
- Refined diesel & petrol engines mated to smooth MTs & ATs
- Precise build & quality (including interiors) are easily among the segment best
- Suspension delivers a compliant ride & neutral road manners
- Loaded with kit! Hands-free boot, cooled seats, sunroof, rear sunshade, AutoLink etc.
- Dual airbags, ABS & ISOFIX mounts are standard on all variants. SX(O) gets 6 airbags
- Hyundai’s reliability, competent after-sales & 3-year unlimited km warranty
What you won’t:
- Rear seat isn’t as spacious as that of the City & Ciaz. SX(O)’s hard seatback makes it worse
- Missing essentials! Reach-adjustable steering, auto wipers, auto-folding ORVMs…
- On select variants, the diesel motor carries a steep premium over the petrol (SX = 1.35 lakhs)
- Petrol AT isn’t as fuel efficient as a couple of its rivals
- While the driving experience has improved, some competitors are still more exciting to drive
- Loses the rear disc brakes that the last-gen Verna was launched with. Braking feel & bite leave a lot to be desired
Volkswagen Vento
What you’ll like:
- A well-built, robust, European sedan
- Clean and contemporary styling. Boot is superbly integrated
- Stunning turbo-petrol engine.
- Mature suspension setup. Balanced ride & handling
- Segment firsts : Reach adjust steering, gear recommender, adjustable driver armrest etc.
- All-rounded nature; Jack of all trades
What you won’t:
- Electric power steering. The Vento deserves a pure hydraulic unit
- No turbo-diesel option for the torque lovers
- VW’s after sales has yet to prove itself
- VW’s long-term reliability and ownership costs are on the higher side
Here’s what GTO had to say on the matter:
Tough choice between the Honda City & Skoda Slavia. The other 3 sedans don’t even come close to these two.
The 5th-gen City is quite the all-rounder, has a smooth CVT and will be the more peaceful to own over 8 – 10 years. On the other hand, the Slavia has way more power & torque (just compare the torque / weight ratio) and European-car attributes, but is more expensive and being a Skoda, won’t be anywhere as hassle-free to own. Other problems aside, that DQ200 is notorious!
In the end, I’d pick the Slavia. For one, I greatly prefer turbo-petrols over naturally-aspirated ones. Second, my general automotive preferences have moved over to the European side of things rather than Japanese. I know it won’t be peaceful to own over 10 years and that DQ200 will 99% fail, but as I posted in the Virtus thread, some of us have made peace with the occasional headaches of owning European / German cars, because few others can match their driving pleasure, premium quality, high speed stability, safety etc. I am personally okay with enjoying a German / European car for 361 days of the year and enduring a headache for 4 days. It’s still a 99 : 1 ratio of joy : pain.
Here’s what BHPian Shreyans_Jain had to say on the matter:
Tough choice between the City and Slavia.
My pick will be….. surprise…. Honda City!!
The Skoda-VW MQB-IN platform has been extensively cost cut for India. In essence, this car at this time is at the same place that the Gen4 City was when it was launched. These companies are smart – cost cutting is mostly in places you can’t immediately see. It rears its ugly head after a couple of years. With so many reports of all kinds of issues, big and small, and with my own experience of getting burnt with the undercooked Gen4 City, I cannot in good faith recommend any new India specific VAG product for at least another 2-3 years. No amount of TSi goodness can change that.
Kushaq is no longer on my short list of cars to replace my City.
Honda on the other hand have fixed a lot of the blunders they had made 8 years back. Overall build, part quality and fit and finish are no longer a disaster. They are more as per expectations now. The iVTEC and the CVT combo is the most efficient, reliable and bullet proof one there is. Despite the sub par high speed dynamics, the Gen 5 City is my top sedan pick today. The pricing is also competent, especially the well equipped base model.
Here’s what BHPian Turbohead had to say on the matter:
Too early to poll.
Virtus is coming up and I wouldn’t seriously consider the VAG twins until we see 6 months of reports just to make sure the Kushaq fiasco isn’t repeated.
Keyword: Skoda Slavia vs Honda City vs Maruti Ciaz vs Hyundai Verna vs others