Help me decide on my next car.

[kaushik_s]

Hi All,
Currently I'm driving a old carb Zen and I feel it's time for me to upgrade to a bigger car.Basically I've almost decided that I'll go for a pre-owned car.

1.within the price range of max 5.5L.
2.Should have a good power and performance
3.Should have a boot.
4.Good A.S.S without much headache
5.Decent mileage ( around 11kmpl in city) - My daily drive is around 40km and weekend trips of 200 odd kms.

So taking into consideration of all these I almost decided on a Maruti Baleno and found one Vxi 2005,price quoted is 5L negotiable.I think they'll come down to around 4.8L
But I've also seen one Black Optra 1.8 LS for 4.8L and now that's swinging my mind a lil' bit towards that car. mostly because of the looks and the posh feel of Optra. Also one doubt I've is that the price seems low for an optra ?
So guys, help me decide on which car to go for? Are the prices quoted ok? Also how can I tell that the cars haven't been through any major accidents or problem. (the optra ppl are ready to show service history and baleno is true value certified)

Waiting for your valuable inputs.

[shuvc]

How long do you plan to keep the car ?
I would have been tempted by the Optra. And at the price, most of the depreciation hit, due to poor resale value, is already being taken by the current owner. You would not stand to loose much money when you try to sell.

The Optra in general is still in production and will continue to do so for a while. So maintenance should not be much of a problem either.

[kaushik_s]

Shuv, that's something unexpected from a Baleno owner ;-) Actually I'm also tempted by the Optra in that price but my brain says Baleno.
About keeping the car,I'm not sure as of now but I think it won't be more then 3 years. But minimum I'll keep it for more then a year.
How is the after sales service of GM in Bangalore? and optra mileage is not very good as I heard.
another thing to add to confusion, how does Honda City 1.5 fares along with these two cars? I'venot yet come across any available but I guess price will be on higher side.

[rubin2006]

I think at this price if you are getting fairly loaded car then optra is a better choice then discontinued baleno , secondly opta has got a new lease of life after the diesel Transplant so it will be some more years of Bonus life for optra where as baleno it doesn't make any sense to buy when you have the likes of Honda city available at that price

[theMAG]

The Baleno and 1.8 Optra are both discontinued. Maruti's spares availability for discontinued models is adequate, if you decide on the Baleno. I dont have any educated information abt GM's discontinued cars.

That Optra's price is way lower than the prevalent rates, assuming its a 2005 make . Do go thru its service records in detail if you decide on this car.

[kaushik_s]

Hi Mag, Just now I've noticed that I've forgotten to mention the make of the Optra, it's a 2004 car not 2005. But even for 2004 it seems quite low price or am I wrong here? Also the car has run around 35k. On the other hand the baleno has done 17k only.
And I totally agree on spares availability as you can see I'm driving a zen which is also a discontinued car and I've no problem with Maruti service. Actually I would buy a Maruti with my eyes closed if I've to choose a car only on one criteria, that is service.

Rubin, I tried to find OHC vtec but it's bit difficult to find one and otherwise I found it quite overpriced,atleast in Bangalore. And I don't think NHC's are any better then Baleno's in performance.But yeah I like the looks of the NHC.

[salman9827]

Hi guys,
i m planning to bye a used baleno my budget is around 5L,so please guide me is that baleno2005 or o6 is the correct choice or i m making mistake here,and guys i want to no the differience inbetween baleno2005&06 model?and what about spares,is baleno spares unavailability is possible.......?plz advice me on that thxs and bye.

[ravibhat]

I suggest you search for Optra 1.6 there are lot of optras for sale in bangalore, Please avoid 1.8 Optra because it has poor resale value and FE is very less.

However for 1.8 2004 Optra ask for 4.5 lacs it would be good deal. 2004 1.6 Optra is available for 5 lac or less than that in bangalore. Best place to buy used Optra is popular automatch which is in hosur and tumkur road, its division of nandi toyota.

Regards,

Ravi.

[kaushik_s]

Took a test drive of the Baleno today and just to sum it up I loved the way it performed.It was very quick and handled also well I felt.The car is a April 2005 model.It's a Vxi but no climate control. It ran around 17k till date. There are few very small dents and they promised to fix all those things before delivery.
I was able to negotiate upto 4.6L, I think it's good price, or am I wrong here?They are also giving 1 year Engine warranty and 3 free services.
BTW, it also has height adjuster for the driver's seat, I thought Baleno doesn't come with height adjuster.

Now, few things that I think is telling me to go for the Baleno instead of Optra are,
1. Much better FE.. I'll be driving around 40km per day so FE matters.
2. Low maintenance
3. 1 year Engine Warranty
4. I'm not very sure about service of GM
So shall I go ahead and book this car ? Please tell me if I'm making any wrong decision here..
Regards
Kaushik

[Strider]

You haven't mentioned the mileage on each car, i.e what are the odo readings? I would suggest going for a younger car ASSUMING they've been driven similarly. For used cars go for company supplied pre-owned cars, if either of those is through this route then go for it.

Else you would have to have a mechanic check both cars, go for the one in better condition (as certified by this mechanic you trust).

Do remember, however, that the 1.8 Optra won't give you the mileage you desire. A Baleno in excellent condition might just be able to manage 11kpl.

All things remaining equal, however, I would suggest the Optra - it is clearly a class higher and carries a lot more prestige than the staid looking Baleno, which is itself an otherwise excellent car.

[snaronikar]

My suggestion would be go for Baleno. As the *** of Maruti is good and they are giving you 1 yr warranty. On the other hand, the service levels of GM is OK but not comparable to Maruti. You will get the spares of maruti vehicles easily than that of GM. Moroover, the manufacturing of both the models have been stopped.

The mileage of Baleno would be just as you have desired in city.......Try and negotiate a bit more.....just in case you can save a little more....

[kaushik_s]

The mileage of the Baleno is 17600 km.s and Optra is 34k(I'm not able to recall exactly).
Also Baleno is a True Value car and car seems to be in good condition.
Another thing is that I wanted a black coloured car and that's the only missing point in the Baleno.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

BTW, it also has height adjuster for the driver's seat, I thought Baleno doesn't come with height adjuster.

1. Much better FE.. I'll be driving around 40km per day so FE matters.

I think the VXi had the seat height adjustment option.

Mark my words - you'll end up driving more than that on an average

Since FE is a concern, go with the Baleno. From whatever I've read here, Balenos have a pretty good resale market too, in Bangalore.

[BUSA]

But I've also seen one Black Optra 1.8 LS for 4.8L and now that's swinging my mind a lil' bit towards that car. mostly because of the looks and the posh feel of Optra. Also one doubt I've is that the price seems low for an optra ?

Optra's resale value aint great, so nothing wrong with the car at that price, LT sell in Mumbai for 5.5L, 2004 model, so that price aint wrong.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by shuvc

I think the VXi had the seat height adjustment option.

Actually the Autocar megazine specs section mentioned that it doesn't in 2005 models so I thought it might not have, but I'm happy ;-)

Originally Posted by shuvc

Mark my words - you'll end up driving more than that on an average

And I wish your words will come true...


EDIT : Woww, just noticed, this Baleno has already pushed me to be a BHPian ;-)