Maruti Suzuki Ritz versus Tata Vista: Community poll

The Maruti Suzuki Ritz and the Tata Vista are popular among buyers in that segment, but it’s often difficult for buyers to decide which one is the better option for them. Here we find out just that.

We asked the CarToq community which of these two cars they would buy; take a look at what the poll revealed. You can see the poll here: Tata Vista versus Maruti Suzuki Ritz

The Ritz got the 80% of the votes while the Vista managed to get only 20% votes. This is surprising because the Vista is competitively priced, is well equipped and also offers more space and comfort than the Ritz. Here we try to find out why the CarToq community so strongly believes that the Ritz is a better hatchback than the Vista based on a quick comparison.

Where Vista is better than the Ritz

Space and comfort

The Vista is the more spacious hatchback with plenty of headroom, shoulder room and legroom for five passengers. Comfort wise, the seats have a plush feel and the dual tone black-beige interiors together with the large glass area give an airy feel to the cabin. The 232 litres of boot space is pretty decent for a car in this segment as well.

The Vista with its wide interiors offers adequate shoulder room for three passengers at the back whereas in the Ritz, the rear seat is best for two passengers. However, the Ritz being a tallboy offers slightly more headroom than the Vista. Summing up, the Vista is more spacious and feels a bit more comfortable than the Ritz. Also read: Community Speak: Maruti Suzuki Swift vs. Ritz

Features

The Vista has an intelligent rear wiper that switches on when engaging the reverse gear provided the front wipers are kept on.  With regard to gizmos, the Vista has two 12V power sockets and a music system with ‘Blue 5’ (Bluetooth) feature that allows you to pair up to five mobile phones. Besides, audio streaming and phone books integration is also supported by the factory fitted music system.

The Vista also offers steering mounted audio and Bluetooth controls (starting from the LX variant). The fully loaded Vista ZX comes with dual front airbags, while the Ritz VDI doesn’t offer airbags, though it comes with ABS as optional feature. Overall, the Vista is a better equipped car than the Ritz, especially when comparing the top-end variants.

Price

The Vista is marginally cheaper than the Ritz. The base variant of the Vista is Rs. 1,000 – Rs. 9,000 cheaper than the Ritz depending on the variant. The following table will help give you a clear idea of how the prices of Vista stack up against the Ritz.

[table id=917 /]

Where Ritz is better than Vista

Performance

The Ritz and the Vista are powered by the same Fiat-derived 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine that puts out 74 Bhp of power. However, the gear ratio of the Ritz and its light body allow it to accelerate faster and perform better than the Vista. The fuel efficiency of the Ritz is also slightly better than the Vista in real world driving conditions. Add to this, the ergonomics, gear shift action, light clutch and light steering and it’s easy to see why people love the Ritz more. Summing up, the Ritz performs and is slightly more fuel efficient than the Vista.

Reliability

Tata cars are known for niggling issues especially in the long run. Though the Vista is a big improvement, its fit, finish and some plastic bits are still not at par with the Ritz. Hence, in the long run, buyers may find the Ritz, a bit more reliable than the Vista.

Maintenance costs

Buyers are worried about maintenance costs especially once they go past the free service schedule. With rising labor charges, maintenance costs are important for buyers who wish to keep their cars for many years. When compared to Tata, the maintenance costs for Maruti cars is generally considered to be less and the Ritz is no exception. Hence conscious buyers prefer the Ritz. Also see: Video: Find out which hatchback suits a large family!

After sales services

Though the quality of service centres vary from dealer to dealer and place to place, overall Maruti Suzuki service centres offer better service and have also have earned good will among customers unlike Tata. Tata service centres have improved over the last couple of years, but still Maruti Suzuki leads in terms of overall customer satisfaction in after sales services.

Conclusion

Summing up, in terms of space, comfort, features and price, the Vista is better than the Ritz. However, with regard to performance, mileage, reliability, maintenance costs and after sales service, the Ritz scores more than the Vista. Hence, it isn’t surprising that the majority of CarToq readers have voted for the Ritz.