So you go to your neighbourhood Maruti Suzuki dealer with Rs 5 lakh in your pocket, with the aim of buying the smashing new Swift. You have done your research on the car and have read everything that BSM has written on it. You sit with the sales guy and arrive at the conclusion that a VXi in red is the one for you. It comes with airconditioning, power steering, power windows all around and central locking as standard, and the front and rear fog lamps plus the ‘key not removed’ warning is a welcome bonus. And what’s more, you can also bung in ABS into the equation – even with this all-important active safety feature, at Rs 4,53,962 ex-showroom Mumbai, the Swift VXi fits well inside your budget. Excellent. Then you pop the question: So when can I get delivery of the car?
The answer shatters all your visions of driving the car around with your family during the festive season and showing off your new acquisition to your relatives. It will take six months for your Swift to arrive, so what do you do now? Your eyes fall on the display Esteem...
Now you are really confused. For your budget, you can get an Esteem LXi, which comes with airconditioning, power steering, power windows at the front and other bits. The damages? Rs 4,92,145 ex-showroom Mumbai. A little over the budget? No problem, says the dealer’s man. He will give you a discount of Rs 24,000 on the Esteem, and if you’re opting for finance, a further 3 per cent discount is also part of the deal. No issues on delivery either. So do you want to go for the Esteem then? In that perplexed state, you come back empty handed and send off a mail to Business Standard Motoring, hoping we can help you decide between the Swift and the Esteem.
So be it.
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