{"id":241370,"date":"2023-10-10T08:49:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T08:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/?p=241370"},"modified":"2023-10-10T08:49:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T08:49:22","slug":"why-a-jeep-compass-owner-chose-the-seltos-facelift-over-its-rivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/news-features\/why-a-jeep-compass-owner-chose-the-seltos-facelift-over-its-rivals\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a Jeep Compass owner chose the Seltos facelift over its rivals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before finding solace in this SUV, I checked out cars like the Toyota Hyryder, Skoda Kushaq, Honda Elevate and Hyundai Creta among others.<\/h2>\n

BHPian SPB_drives<\/strong> recently shared this with other enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

Panther Arrives: Kia Seltos 2023 Facelift 1.5 Turbo (Petrol) DCT<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

If you appreciate quality and frugality with good looks, there is clearly only one car which offers it below the INR 50 Lakhs budget. To my mind, this car is the Kia Seltos 2023 facelift. With my current daily drive being a Jeep Compass (manual, diesel, BS IV), christened Cheetah, I wanted to also have a fun turbo petrol in the garage before we strongly transition towards EVs. After experiencing literally all the notable cars within the INR 60 Lakhs budget, I have found solace in Panther, read on to find out why.<\/p>\n

Why Seltos?<\/h2>\n

Maruti Grand Vitara \/ Toyota Hyryder<\/h2>\n

Maruti\u2019s Grand Vitara \/ Toyota Hyryder, come with a nice hybrid tech, and were instantly likeable when I drove them in the city, but their overall lack of quality really shocked me. The automatic gear lever doesn\u2019t move with sophistication, the plastics remind me of my first-gen year 2005 Swift (the power window switches are the same!) and the boot space is just impractical. Also, the noise from the Atkinson cycle petrol engine was crass and was very much audible in the cabin. This car made perfect sense as a city car, but we like our cars to be multi-purpose, so this one was overruled.<\/p>\n

Skoda Kushaq \/ VW Taigun<\/h2>\n

These both look gorgeous, especially the Taigun in red. Come with potent engines. But inferior air-conditioning and glaring steps taken towards cost-cutting make their presence felt quite alarmingly. From the noisy seat ventilation motor to the poor plastics, small boot and doubtful after-sales stories, I decided to not say hi to the German engineering which has been diluted for Indian audiences.<\/p>\n

MG Astor<\/h2>\n

Except for the beautifully red stitched dashboard, I found the car to be overall a \u201cjack of all trades, master of none\u201d. While I do know that the complete adage is \u201c\u2026but still better than master of one\u201d, I found the small boot, unimpressive 1.3 litre turbo mill with TC gearbox, plus the useless (and might I add, distracting) robotic eyes on the dashboard to not appeal to my senses.<\/p>\n

Hyundai Creta<\/h2>\n

I don\u2019t like the design language Hyundai has adopted. I liked the new boxy design language Hyundai premiered on the Santa Fe and I hope they adopt it for the incoming new vehicles. But with a facelift around the corner, and with the same platform and engines as that of Seltos, ignoring the segment leader was an easy choice.<\/p>\n

MG Hector<\/h2>\n

I already have a black Hector at my disposal, christened Kaala Haathi. It is a fabulous vehicle to be driven around in, and for the highways, but it is clearly not a city car as it is too big.<\/p>\n

With the budget being flexible and aspirations running high, I did check out the BMW X1 (2023 facelift), Mercedes GLA and the Audi Q3. You can read my thoughts on these here. To sum it up, I found myself paying exorbitant money for the badge with very little change in the driving characteristics or dynamics. The big-league car brands need to level up their game to provide an experience and technology to their prospective customers which helps them justify the price they pay for their cars and not just on the basis of the brand name.<\/p>\n

Honda Elevate<\/h2>\n

I did check out the Elevate in a showroom but did not get a chance to test drive it. To me, it looked like a fat Maruti Ignis from some angles. Honda has not put any one stand-out feature\/characteristic in this car; I was honestly waiting for the strong hybrid Elevate but that is not happening as Honda has decided to jump onto the EV bandwagon. Also, the Honda showroom people looked quite overwhelmed with the attention they were getting. I feel Honda is playing catch-up and still has not brought in its game to the fight.<\/p>\n

Seltos Materialises<\/h2>\n

With the facelift being launched, I knew in my head that I was sold on this. I had already driven the previous 1.4 turbo DCT transmission and was mighty impressed. With the new raving reviews of the 1.5 turbo DCT, I knew I would like it in a heartbeat. The DCT failure tales did strike me and to be honest, this was the only chink in this otherwise gorgeous package apart from safety; I noticed that Hyundai\/Kia group with time have implemented their learnings, and among other things have dulled the initial pickup of the car in order to protect the DCT unit. Also, have taken the extended warranty for peace of mind, so que sera on this much-debated topic.<\/p>\n

The good bits:<\/h2>\n