Buying Fiat Grande Punto vs Volkswagen Polo

Planning to buy a car, which will be a better choice Volkswagen Polo or Fiat Punto?

• Fiat Grande Punto is very low in maintenance and spares are also on the cheaper side.
• Volkswagen has assured that Polo will not be expensive to maintain.
• Volkswagen Polo wins when look at build quality with 6 years anti-corrosion warranty.
• Both cars have 5 star Euro NCAP safety rating.
• Fiat Grande Punto wins hands down when you look at equipment level.
• Volkswagen Polo misses out on automatic climate control, electronically adjustable mirrors, bluetooth enabled entertainment system, and so on.

If you see from my perspective, which obviously I would not impose on you, then both the cars will complement each other in the market rather than either of the two winning hands down. Earlier I had concerns and apprehensions about the maintenance cost of Polo but hearing the level of localization, VW has achieved for this I can say it should be easy on pocket to maintain. Engine wise, both the TDi (CRDi) and Multijet are capable small motors but the real to look out for engine is the TSi petrol in the Polo, which is new age, powerful, low on emissions and is reliable too unlike the MPi of the Fabia.

If you are only talking about the petrol based versions of both these car brands, not the high-end version like Punto 1.2 Petrol Active, Price 4.5 Lacs and VW Polo 1.2 Petrol Treandline, Price 4.8 Lacs, then I would say that you grab the Polo without any question because the engine in Polo is a TSi Petrol unit which is very new age unlike the old FIRE engine of the Punto plus the design of the Polo is very today, not that Punto looks dated but still Polo is fresh.

If your budget is maximum 4.2 lacs (+-20k as you told me in the email) and use of your car is limited to less than 1000 km per month, then go through two options mentioned below:

Option 1

If you want a good looking vehicle which gives you okay mileage and you are not really a driving centric person, I mean who does not give priority to driving pleasure and just wants a commuter vehicle, then you can easily grab Maruti Swift, Maruti Ritz, and Hyundai i10 in this budget. All are equally reliable and efficient. Don’t forget that the Maruti line up now has the K-Series engines and they are good enough at that price.

Option 2

If you are a driving centric person and like sturdiness and feel of a car, then I think stretch your budget a bit and buy Punto Active MJD or Volkswagen Polo Diesel. Both the cars are good engine wise and don't opt for petrol out of both Polo and Punto.

Happy motoring...