2nd hand Tata Sierra? Advice needed.

[govigov]

Hi all,
We have got a Maruti 800 at home for a family car. Well, I will have to share it with my sis at times, but that is ok as we both work in the same building (diff companies) so getting to work is not an issue.

The issue is i want get a car of my own with my own money. my savings put together for a year will touch 6 digits next month. and i cant wait for another year to get a vehicle of my own. so put it simply i will have to find a vehicle for a lac or less than a lac. now, keep in mind that we already have an M800 at home.

The vehicle i am looking at is a 98 or later version of the tata sierra turbo diesel, which i think is a real sexy car, unlike all the other people i have been talking to.

The reason i think it is good, is first because of its good looks, and it will look really good when fitted with a good set of tires and bullbars and lights. secondly, the car is nice to enough to my huge 6'2'' frame in comfort; which the M800 is pathetic.

I will be doing around 30-35 kms/day in the city (travelling to and from office) and the weekends may lead to cochin-bangalore or cochin-munnar. the cochin-bangalore is currenly comfortable due the nice people from kallada who are providing me with a wonderful volvo bus service atleast once in a month. The cochin-munnar (and cochin-bangalore at times) is primarily limited to drinking trips with friends.

Am planning to use the car for about 3-4 years (hopefully i should have left india by then)

A few questions.

Am i doing the correct thing? Because many of my frinds and relatives are advising against buying this vehicle.
what are the pros and cons of the tata sierra?
Any other cars that may fit the needs in the said price range?
What are the things to watchout for when i am checking out this car?

Please Advice.

[drifter]

First of all, it is very hard to find a turbo model. The electricals are not reliable. Frankly, just not worth the hassle.

Drifter

[anupmathur]

There is an old saying.
I don't want to 'say' the whole thing.
"Wise men learn from others' experience, .......

[prabhuav]

Does not look practical..

I did look for the same car that you are talking about.. Very hard to find one that is in good shape , that the owner is willing to part with. If he is , then he wants an arm and a leg for it.. Plus the electricals can go kaput at any point and are expensive to fix..

Vijay

[DirtyDan]

Tata discontinued the Sierra because it had quality issues and word of mouth killed it. It did not sell. You want to buy a ten year old lemon?

You do not REALLY need a car. Save your rupees for a year and then see what the market looks like. Then buy something dependable and not 'sexy'. After all, are you sure this Sierra has the same feelings for you?

Tender nights before they fly
Send falling stars that seem to cry
Your Sierra does not want you anymore.

It's over. -Roy Orbison

[govigov]

This car has got my imagination working and i am excited about it. What other car should i look for? What else is out there?

[ashish22]

for a budget of 1 lakh you can consider old santro model basically the ones which came first to india.
santro can be easily serviced anywhere and plus it is very cheap to maintain thanks to hyundai services and spares availibility and price

going for tata sierra is a very risky thought because you might have to shell out as much money to maintain it as it would require you to buy it

[rider60]

well if you wanted to buy the sierra for your 6'2" image suits perfectly fine, but its practical part may put a huge hole in your pocket!

instead go in for a jeep i think it suits your image, and rugged attitude too!

[rjstyles69]

Look around for a gypsy too, you might get lucky.

[govigov]

Gypsy is a good idea! How much does a gypsy cost these days? There is a HT variant and a ST variant, and then there is the king? What is the difference betwwen the king and the regular versions? Was it available in diesel? what is it's FE? something like 8-9, right?

Plus there is another advantage, because of its smaller size, when compared to the sierra, it would be better in the city.

What are the things to keep in mind when hunting for a gypsy?

[midlifecrisis]

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

Tata discontinued the Sierra because it had quality issues and word of mouth killed it. It did not sell. You want to buy a ten year old lemon?

You do not REALLY need a car. Save your rupees for a year and then see what the market looks like. Then buy something dependable and not 'sexy'. After all, are you sure this Sierra has the same feelings for you?

Tender nights before they fly
Send falling stars that seem to cry
Your Sierra does not want you anymore.

It's over. -Roy Orbison

Exactly my thoughts! You don't really need a car. But if you must have one and you really want to drive it rather than it being a means to socialize with mechanics, you'd be well advised to buy something more practical.
From your post, it looks like you're going to be driving this thing on a daily basis, not just as a weekend car. For a lakh, you're going to get just that. Value for a lakh. Not many people would be willing to sell a well maintained car for a lakh, unless its a Maruti 800. But for higher end cars, the owner is usually trying to sell it off because its become too difficult to maintain.
Go for something more dependable. Like Dirty Dan suggested, try to wait till you've got more money.

[power ranger]

Look for a good Mahindra Classic. Thats wonderful

[hillram]

Govi,
Check out my Sierra in my Gallera.I would never sell this wonderful machine which i drive in city daily 25 kms and its runs like a bull.Those Pirelli AT tyres are cut the rode like blow torch thru butter !!! U find a decent mech,u can easily maintain a Sierra.But u need to find a reasonalbly well maintained one first..or else as our pundits say..it will blow a hole in ur pocket and frustrate you.
Also the A/C is an Achilles Heel in Sierra.Rear vents seldom work.Gas leakes..compressor goes kaput sometimes.
A good Scorpio would be good too.
Good Luck on ur hunt.

[govigov]

@hilram, the black adder is great. Mech is not a problem, as i have one who is quite reliable (i hope so)

@all, i really dont wont a soft top as i cant put in an a/c or a stereo in it. plus it rains a lot here. so the mahindra and the ST version of the gypsy is out.

scorpio is definitely out of the budget.

[gt_mustang]

hey i had a sierra turbo once sniff
i sold it barely a month back as i was leaving the country
it was superbly maintained if u search it in the last section the classified part ull still find the purple beast

ive spent 2 years of my life in it and never had a single issue other than the AC switch which used to switch off automatically at the wierdest times

its an amazing vehicle if u find one nicely maintained but ull definitly not find a good one for below 1.60 and u shouldnt buy one below that either!!!!
it gives u good mileage i got 9.5 with 80%ac and 20% non ac city driving and mostly pedal to the metal kinda one
its a very comfy car with the most leg space than any car sold in india till date im 6 feet too and it was amazingly comfortable

lots of things to look in for b4 buying one
happy hunting