Mitsubishi Cedia Sports 11500 km(7 months) report

[csr]

Note: It's a bit long, read it when u have some time. This is my first posting and I wanted to tell the entire story in one shot!

First of all thanks to ROC for having started such wonderful threads on Cedia. I just joined the group today and I've a different story to share. I thought this would be the right forum.

I'm from Bangalore and I feel great to see fellow cedians & fello BHPians! Well, when did I become a Cedian and BHPian? Just yesterday. Hmm... don't mind, I'm not bringing a new car on to the road! I've just booked for a used Cedia and it's gonna be in my parking lot end of this week! Can't wait till I lay my hands on it after having read all the three email threds patiently for 1hr 30min yesterday night. I immdediately decided to write my story on this thread.

Well... the story goes like this...

I've been searching for a 100+ BHP car since almost an year and I had looked at several options - likes of corollas, civics, scorpios, endeavors etc. Budget never really been a serious constraint for the cars in this segment for me, but I wanted a car which gives me great comfort in all aspects. Last weekend happen to see an ad for the sale of Mits-Cedia and went there to just check out the vehicle! Believe it or not, I decided to buy the car with in 15min after I saw the car and paid the advance. I sometime back read the reviews on autocar, indiacar etc. and also seen it on CNBC auto-show but this car hasn't been my prime choice simply because I was wanting more power (I was wanting a sub-10seconds on 0-100). But after I looked at the interiors of the car, took a small test-drive and negotiated the price I couldn't resist myself! In the thread some one said ( I guess it was President) that it's a great second hand buy, and that turned out to be absolutely true in my case! Here are the details of the car:

N.Blue color, Cedia elegance, Mar-2006
Mileage-5K (Yes, It's true!! and this was the most tempting part!!)
Price - Well I leave it for your guess! I might hurt the feelings of new car owners if I reveal it and so I decide to leave it for your guess at this point of time.

After booking the car, I then thought of going through the reviews and found these three threads. I'm immediately felt my story would be a good addition. I heard about team-bhp probably a couple of years back but never been keen on joining it, but now I feel I've missed some fun all these days!

As someone rightly pointed in the tread, for some reason this car is under priced in second hand market and IMO even the new car is an excellent value for the money especially after the recent pricing. Apparently the guy who sold me the car bought it for 11L on-road whereas new car now is ~10L on-road in Bangalore and he lost that one lakh simply for nothing! But having benefited by it's resale value, I guess I can't complain much! I got to worry about it when I sell it which I guess is not going to be some time soon especially after having seen the mileage on this car - It still has lot of miles to go before it really becomes old!

The best part of the story:
Responsiveness and service culture at Lathangi motors really gave me a pleasant surprice - a bit of a shocker too! (By the way, I haven't read ROCs comments by the time I went to the show room) After having owned a Fiat Palio Sport for past four years, and having undergone Fiat's service woos, I really felt like I was in a heaven! It all started with a phone call from my side enquiring about the service record of the vehicle. The guys at Lathangi were very prompt and within a few minutes called me back and provided the details of the services and also invited me to get it checked for a mere 375 bucks (but even more surpricing is the fact that they charged me just 310 bucks at the end!) I got my piece of mind after having listened to the guy about the history of the car and he was very enthusiastic to provide all the details of the car! They seem to value the car irrespective of who the owner of the car is! After having seen such a nice service, I simply can't understand why the car sells for such a less price compared to second hand civic or a corolla!! (I'm only talking about % depreciation here and not the absolute numbers). I found this service to be bonus on top of price tag that I got on the car!

Anyway, after I came from the showroom and asked the dealer to start the transfer process, and then when I came back home started browsing the reviews and after reading these threads I felt like I had a triple bonus ! It's good to see so many satisfied owners fo the car, well... late but not the least I've joined the party!

Now since I'm going to take delivery from the dealer this Friday, if someone could assist me with the documentation process (specific to Bangalore) and what else I need to take care before I give the dealer final cheque. Are there any things that I should be checking for before I take the car? What are the documents that I need to get from him apart from RC book, insurance papers (both of which I verified when I paid the advance).

I also have a doubt about the cheque payment. Last time when I paid the advance (50K) that dealer asked me to give a check without any name on it. Since it was small amount I didn't mind but can someone advice me if it's okay to give a nameless cheque for the full payment also or should I be concerned about it (I never did such a large transaction on uncrossed cheques)?

Let's see how it goes further!

-CSR

[megger]

Good luck CSR

Almost 2 yrs and just 5k kms. Is that the reason owner sold it off?

[HappyWheels]

CSR,

Congrats on the kill! :-)

Triple bonus it is!

~2 years and just 5k??? Did you check why it was run only this much?

Since you got the full service history, I guess this was not much of a contraint. Do post some pictures when you get the baby in your hands!

[csr]

Thanks for the wishes guys!

Yes, it was 2Yrs with 5K done. Service record shows that the last service was done in Sep07 and recorded 4.8K Kms. When I spoke to the owner over phone ( I don't whether it was real owner or not because the call was handed to me by the dealer) he told that he wants to buy Outlander and so he is selling it off. But the Lathangi guys confirmed that the owner is a genuine party!

I thought digital odometers can not be tampered. I might be wrong here!

I'm taking the delivery of the car tomorrow and shall post the pictures soon.

-CSR

[madan80]

well, ideally, issue a demand draft for the larger amount because there is traceability. Also, if the dealer makes the blank cheque in his name- it might be difficult to account for it for tax purposes as the reciept might be in the dealership's name. I would suggest you doublecheck with your CA before you issue a blank cheque.

Well, congrats on the purchase, from the way you are reluctant to share the price, i am guessing you got it at a song.


Since you have already verified the service history and stuff, the next question is HP (hypothecation) make sure the car's previous loan (if any) has been cleared off.
Else, nothing much.

HAve a great drive!

[csr]

Madan, Thanks for the advice. I could finally settle the amount through crossed cheque. So no issues there!

Well... I've been driving this beauty past one week and it drives superb! I've liked the car so far and already added another 270km to the 5.1K reading it had when I bought it. None of my friends or colleagues could believe that its an used car and all of them mistook it for a new car at the first glance!

Shall share more updates and pics soon...

-CSR

[President]

The are few rattling issues with the car that have cropped up post some hard driving on poor terrain... the first is a slight rattle inside the dashboard that comes up occasionally. Lathangi tried to fix it twice. The problem disappears for 10-15 days and then once again crops up when going over bad roads. I guess this time round I'll ask them to open the dash and take a look inside.


My service experience with lathangi has been exceptional, not withstanding the fact that the dashboard rattle still comes occasionally. The thing I like about them the most is that their service manager (Mr Prasad) actually takes time out to sit with the me and take feedback on every single nitty gritty of the car everytime I visit them. He seems genuinely interested in getting to the root of the problem and making sure that if it crops up again on any other car, it gets solved. I'd never noticed this proactive attitude in any of the Maruti service stations before.

JUST MY SMALL BIT TO BE SHARED HERE:-
ROC, I have similar dashboard rattles in my CEDIA that has clocked 15,000 kms today. I have got the three free services done but have never remembered to get this problem checked as I hardly get affected with my music system overiding this minor rattle sound while I drive. However, I have to attend to this at the next service, though.

Being winter time, I am frequently using the CEDIA on the expressway without AC switched on. I do average speeds of around 120-140 kmph with 4 to 5 persons incl. driver, but the FE has only been about 13 kmpl which I still find low after reading similar other reviews. In the city with the AC switched "ON", I still get FE between 7-8 kmpl and no more. Car is perfectly tuned and driving habits are SOBER and all that, but I'm still wondering why the Low FE?

At the third free service in METRO MOTORS, mumbai, I did complain about the difficulty in engaging gears smoothly, which they agreed upon, after a small TEST drive. It seems the play on the clutch was to be increased for which they ended up dismantling the gearbox from the engine in order to access the clutch settings, which they did within half a day, while I sat at the dealership oft and on monitoring the job being done, like a passionate car owner would normally do. But the Final result didn't do any better for shifting and I still find the gears in the same unsatisfactory shifting condition.

I only wished that METRO MOTORS, Mumbai offered better after sales service and support for me to praise them just as you guys do about LATHANGI, Bangalore.

Other than the above minor problems being faced, I'm still very happy with the overall ownership and drivability of the car which gives me immense pleasure to own a CEDIA as ever before.
It is a good, solid, longlasting and VFM car, as I have earlier mentioned.

[Jyodi Backster]

reignofchaos, or any other Cedia Sports owner.
Do you find the fog lamps really useful?
While driving at night, if you only turn on the fog lamps without starting the headlamps, do you find the road ahead properly illuminated?
I recently got original Mitsubishi Fog lamp kit fitted to my Cedia Spirit.
and I found that the fog lamp light, though dense, is not well spread. it hardly illuminates few meters ahead when on move.
Is it because of incorrect leveling setting of the fog lamp? or do all fog lamps behave in similar manner?

[reignofchaos]

Thats how it should be. Fogs don't have a throw beyond say 3-4 meters or so. It does help seeing the immediate vicinity of the car.

[vid6639]

The fog lamp is supposed to be for the oncoming traffic to see your car and not for your better visibility.

The actual fog lamp are like the huge yellow lamps found in SUV's.

[diabloo]

Congrats !!

Inspiration for this thread? uh !
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...portunity.html (Resale Value - The Killer opportunity)

Originally Posted by csr

N.Blue color, Cedia elegance, Mar-2006
Mileage-5K (Yes, It's true!! and this was the most tempting part!!)
Price - Well I leave it for your guess! I might hurt the feelings of new car owners if I reveal it and so I decide to leave it for your guess at this point of time.

[RajaTaurus]

Originally Posted by vid6639

The fog lamp is supposed to be for the oncoming traffic to see your car and not for your better visibility.

The actual fog lamp are like the huge yellow lamps found in SUV's.

Absolutely right.
Its a misnomer in India. These are not actuallu fog lamps. the actual fog lamps are Yellow lamps.

To answer Jyodi,
These lamps that we have are useful while driving in narrow lanes in cities, as it throws light right at the floor level, where you can spot any boulder or platic cans or a cardboard box, (or a dead dog / cat) or a nasty pot-hole, which are normally not well illuminated by the main headlights.
I have found these very useful while driving through City's lanes, where we have enough street lights, I use only these foot lamps or Bumper lamps or City Lamps in other words....

[mav2000]

hi guys have finally made up my mind and have decided to buy the cedia over the honda city Vtec....i guess it was more a choice of the heart than the mind.....will update soon.

[sj_koova]

Originally Posted by mav2000

hi guys have finally made up my mind and have decided to buy the cedia over the honda city Vtec....i guess it was more a choice of the heart than the mind.....will update soon.

Congrats on your decision and good luck for your new venture.
Would you tell me what is the On road price quoted?
What discounts have you got?

[megger]

Mav

It is other way around. Chosing Cedia over Vtec is listening to your brain rather than heart.

Originally Posted by mav2000

hi guys have finally made up my mind and have decided to buy the cedia over the honda city Vtec....i guess it was more a choice of the heart than the mind.....will update soon.