My Journey of shortlisting 7XO

Background of the author:

My name is Jason Varghese and I am a car enthusiast since my childhood. My father is the main reason I have become so. He used to buy autocar india, auto india and many other automobile related magazines in my childhood and reading them used to be my favourite pass time since my childhood. My father sold his Maruti Vitara Breeza ZXI+ (2020) last week as our new ride is hopefully coming in few days.....More on this some other time once I get the car.

What is it that we wanted from the upgrade?:

Having used the Vitara Breeza for almost 6 years, we were sure we wanted an SUV or MPV (7 seater prefeably) as our next upgrade.  We did not want to spent more than 25 lakhs OTR on a car as our running are low. With this in mind we went through the latest car models in the market and shortlisted few and test drove fewer. For test drives, I went with my family which consisted of my father, mother, wife, daughter (3 year old) and son (one year old). Having used petrol all my life, I somehow felt we wanted a diesel car as the next upgrade (God Knows what will happen to diesel car few years down the line......). 

What cars did we consider:

1. Toyota Innova Crysta and Innova Hycross - Both the cars are known for ride comfort and comes with the reliability of Toyota. However, the models available ~25 lakhs OTR were having very bare features. After test driving both the cars, my family also came to the conclusion that the drive comfort was not that great (body roll could be felt in both) and there was nothing so magical about the ride or pick up of both the 2.0 petrol engine in Innova Hycross and 2.4 diesel engine in Innova crysta. So let go of them even though my father badly wanted a toyota as the next upgrade.
2. Toyota Hyryder - While in the showroom, my father liked the hyryder. We took test drive of the car (non-Hybrid 1.5 petrol engine). Driving it did not feel like an upgrade as I am using the Vitara breeza which also had a similar engine and similar space within the cabin. Moreover my head was almost touching the roof of the hyryder. So we decided to move on.
3. Kia Karens and Clavis - Saw and read about the car. The car is amazing value for money. However, heard so many poor reviews about the dealership in Trivandrum that we decided not to even check out the car.
4. Hyundai Alcazar - Saw and read about the car. Felt nothing magical enough for me to spent 25 lakhs on it. (personal opinion). So we did not test drive or visit the dealership.
5. XUV 700 - Went to the showroom multiple times with my dad to see the car. We all felt that the car was amazing. The AX7 model was suiting our needs and we were more than happy with the engine. However, few things put us off. We wanted a light colour theme in the cabin. However the seat had to be black as I have small kids and having a beige or lighter shade means more cleaning and maintenance. I also wanted a 360 deg camera. However, the sales exec informed that it cannot be fitted in the AX7 model and for the same, I will have to upgrade to the AX7L which meant I have to shelve out additional ~3 lakh INR (including the addition in price, road tax, insurance) which would stretch my budget. 

So we decided to wait for some time to see if any other cars will get launched.

Entry of XUV 7XO:

In December of 2025 got to know that 7XO was getting launched. Saw the spy shots and somewhere had a mixed opinion of whether I would like it or not. Saw decided to not pre-book the car. 5th January saw the car officially getting launched. Still was not fully convinced if I will like it or not. Decided to check it out myself in flesh. Called the local dealership who informed on 9th that the test drive vehicle has reached their dealership. With my family and went and checked it out. We all loved the car in flesh when we saw it. Gave advance cheque on the spot for booking the AX7 model. Was told that it will take some time to get delivery of the car. Currently I am waiting for the same.

More on the booking/ownership experience in some other post. The above experiences are purely personal and in no way meant to put any car model or car company in bad light.