Methodology

How we calculate prices & verdicts

These calculations help compare cars using consistent assumptions. Manufacturer prices and specifications have their own source dates; on-road and ownership totals are estimates. Confirm an itemised dealer and insurer quote before buying.

Bengaluru on-road price

On-road = ex-showroom + the following:

• Lifetime road tax (Karnataka): 13% (≤ ₹5L), 14% (₹5–10L), 17% (₹10–20L) or 18% (> ₹20L) of the invoice price for petrol/diesel/CNG/hybrid cars, plus an 11% cess on that tax and a flat ₹1,000 cess. EVs pay 5% (≤ ₹10L), 8% (> ₹10L to ₹25L) or 10% (> ₹25L) under the 2026 amendment, in force from 1 May 2026. Each slab applies to the whole vehicle price.
• Registration, plates and processing: ₹2,860 budgeting allowance for combustion cars. Battery EV registration/RC fees are exempt; we budget ₹2,060 for plates and processing. These are estimates, not verified itemised RTO fee schedules.
• Insurance planning estimate: one-year own damage at 2.48% of ex-showroom (including GST), plus the notified three-year TP base and one annual TP premium allowance, with 18% GST. The Supreme Court directed four-year TP cover on 4 August 2026. A notified four-year tariff has not been verified, so the added annual premium is a budgeting assumption, not the price of an approved four-year policy. Confirm the term and quote with an insurer. Owner-driver personal accident cover and add-ons are extra unless already covered.
• TCS: 1% on cars above ₹10 lakh. This is an advance income-tax payment creditable against your tax liability. Any refund depends on your return and tax due.
• FASTag & misc.: ~₹850.

We don't include accessories, extended warranty or "handling/logistics" charges. Ask the dealer to identify each charge separately.

Published TP base premiums, before GST

G.S.R. 394(E), 2022. Hybrid electric vehicles receive a 7.5% TP discount; the model applies it to strong hybrids, without assuming petrol-labelled mild hybrids qualify. EV slabs use motor kW, not battery kWh. The EV table already includes its concession; no second EV discount is applied.

Pricing sources and check date

Rules and supporting sources checked 9 October 2026. Plate/processing allowances, own-damage pricing and the additional annual TP allowance remain assumptions.

• Karnataka legislature: 2026 tax tables ↗

  Passed Bill 12/2026, Part A5 and A5(a): new private-car tax slabs. The legislature's enactment record identifies Act 29/2026, assented on 9 April and published on 10 April 2026.

• Karnataka legislature: enactment record ↗

  Passage, assent and Act number; publication is distinct from commencement. India Code's consolidated Act records commencement on 1 May 2026.

• Karnataka consolidated Motor Vehicles Taxation Act ↗

  Section 3A cess and amendment commencement dates. Legislative PDF tables were also checked; the full consolidated download was unavailable during this check.

• Karnataka legislature: cess provisions ↗

  English pages 6 and 10: ₹1,000 private-car welfare cess provision and existing Section 3A's 11% cess on vehicle tax. The welfare provision became Act 3/2025.

• MoRTH: notified insurance premiums (2022) ↗

  Tables I/IV and V/VI give annual and three-year private-car premiums by engine cc or EV motor kW; Note III gives the hybrid discount. These tables do not supply a four-year tariff.

• Supreme Court: new-car insurance duration (2026) ↗

  Paragraph 23.7 directs four-year TP cover for new cars and asks IRDAI to issue directions. A new four-year premium was not verified in the current circulars reviewed.

• IRDAI: current circulars ↗

  Recent circulars checked for implementation of the longer motor-insurance term. The retrieved list contained no four-year premium notification; this is a limit of the verification, not proof that none exists.

• Zurich Kotak: GST on motor insurance ↗

  Insurer's 30 September 2026 explanation confirms 18% GST on TP and own-damage premiums. Own-damage cover remains insurer-priced.

• MoRTH: battery EV registration-fee exemption ↗

  G.S.R. 525(E), Rule 81: registration/RC and registration-mark fees exempt for battery vehicles. This does not exempt state road tax or establish plate/processing charges.

• Income Tax Department: Section 394 ↗

  Income-tax Act 2025, table entry 6: 1% TCS on motor-vehicle sale consideration exceeding ₹10 lakh.

Running costs

ARAI-claimed efficiency is measured in lab conditions and rarely matches reality. We use our own real-world estimates (for example ~14.5 kmpl for a 1.5L petrol manual SUV, ~21 kmpl for a strong hybrid). These are planning assumptions, not verified measurements of each current variant. Editable defaults are petrol ₹112/L, diesel ₹100/L and CNG ₹97/kg; they are not a live pump-price feed. We add ₹0.9–1.1/km for routine service and wear, and assume CNG cars run on petrol about 10% of the time. In the variant finder, city driving gives hybrids a boost and highways favour conventional engines.

EV certified range is shown separately from the mixed-use planning estimate. Electric running cost = electricity tariff ÷ estimated battery km/kWh ÷ charging efficiency. Defaults are ₹10/kWh and 90% charging efficiency (10% loss), both editable in the car cost chart. EV service and wear are budgeted at ₹0.65/km. We apply no combustion highway-efficiency bonus to EVs. Home/public tariffs, speed, AC use and weather can materially change the result. Ownership totals exclude depreciation, finance, insurance renewals, battery replacement and electrical installation upgrades.

Feature verdicts

Every feature gets one of four verdicts, written with Indian roads, weather, traffic and budgets in mind:

• Must-have. Safety or comfort you shouldn't buy a car without.
• Worth paying for. Makes a real day-to-day difference. Worth stretching for.
• Nice to have. Pleasant, but you won't miss it, and it can often be added aftermarket.
• Don't pay extra. Mostly cosmetic. Don't stretch your budget for it.

For each step-up we also show what the retrofit-able gains would cost aftermarket, and how many gains are factory-only (things like ADAS, sunroofs or ventilated seats that can't be added properly later).

Variant finder

We filter variants by your gearbox, fuel and must-haves, then score each one: feature points (weighted by verdict) minus the total cost of ownership over your chosen period. The result is the variant that gives you the most useful car for the money. You also get the lowest-total-cost option and, when it's worth it, a pick slightly above your budget.

Finding a car across brands

The car finder runs the variant finder on every car we cover, then ranks the cars against each other. Each car's best variant scores points for a shared set of comparable features (weighted by verdict, so 6 airbags count more than a wireless charger), plus 6 points for a 5-star crash test, minus 5 points per lakh of its cost to own. Cars that haven't been crash-tested get no safety points: we don't assume they would do well. Cars that don't fit are listed with the reason, and the nearest variant if budget is the only problem.

Data sources

Manufacturer brochures and model pages establish specifications and equipment; manufacturer price pages or feeds establish ex-showroom prices. Crash-test applicability is checked separately. Each car and variant page lists source scopes and recorded check/update dates. Unsettled facts remain “Not verified” and earn no fitted-feature or crash-rating score.