Team-BHP > Team-BHP Advice > On buying a car


Reply
  Search this Thread
284,976 views
Old 13th April 2010, 09:43   #46
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Dombivli
Posts: 3,056
Thanked: 2,139 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Nice post, Honeybee. Are you saying that you support the cause of car ownership (versus renting)? Well, HELLO, you are in the midst of diehard petrolheads. I'm sure 99.99% of everyone reading your post will agree with you
Thanks GTO. I suggest you add this info to your other two threads: What to do after owning a car for 5 years, and the lateral upgrade. This makes for a very compelling argument to keep your car once the loan has been paid off, and to go for a used car that will save you a good amount of money every year.
honeybee is offline  
Old 1st May 2010, 15:31   #47
Senior - BHPian
 
spadix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 1,022
Thanked: 207 Times

Hi all,

I think that buying and owning a new car is more or less uneconomical for *most* working professionals these days (emphasis on word 'most'). If one lives close to his/her place of work and the work kind of keeps the person busy, then monthly usage is very little.

Even for those who mention the flexibility of owning a vehicle (and I agree with all of those points) you only have to look at probabilities. How often will you suddenly need a car at 2 am to go to the hospital/airport? How often will you be fleeced at autorickshaw/taxi drivers at inopportune times? How often will you go on trips with family and a full complement of luggage? If these probabilities are so low, can you still justify that you need that car even on non-economic grounds?

I think that's a futile exercise. If we start doing that then there's hardly a market for C/D-segment cars here, or even the upper B-segment cars for that matter.

The one philosophy I really would like to subscribe to is that we shouldn't be paying interest on a depreciating commodity. So try to pay as much as possible of a vehicle's cost upfront and opt for flexi-loans which allow you to pay off any amount at any time towards the outstanding balance. Loans should ideally only be made for home purchases and higher education.

However, what if, in the process of saving for your dream car, the model is outdated by the company and not produced anymore? I've fallen into this trap a couple of times (Baleno, Skoda RS, ...). So it's a trade-off .

If we come down to it there are so many things in life that we really don't need. I go by the guiding principle that as long as you stay solvent and have enough liquidity to meet regular any emergency expenses, then just go for your dream vehicle.

Apologies for the long post. I'll get off my soap box now .

Thanks,
spadix
spadix is offline  
Old 25th May 2010, 17:19   #48
BHPian
 
echo77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: goa
Posts: 359
Thanked: 115 Times
Vehicle TCO calculator and comparison spreadsheet - Sedans

Based on various inputs from this forum, I decided to create a TCO calculator / comparison spreadsheet.

I am attaching the spreadsheet here for anyone to use/criticize/update.

All rates and taxes are Goa-based. Kindly update the corresponding columns and road tax formula for your city/state.

All columns in blue can be filled in by you based on the comparison you want.

The following cars are in the sheet:
sx4 variants, linea variants, city variants, fiesta diesel, optra diesel, cedia

Following are some of the items considered in the spreadsheet:
1) initial costs:
showroom price, road tax, 1st yr insurance, OTR price
2) loan:
amount, rate, tenure, total interest
3) 5 year cost:
fuel based on economy, spares (considered equal for all), insurance
3.a) for professionals/businessmen (5 yr):
depreciation, running expenses (fuel+servicing), interest expense, tax rate & benefit
4) claimed sale value (approx, based on discussions here)
5) some additional info - assumed cost of new car and depreciation calculation between sale of old car and cost of new etc
Attached Thumbnails
ARTICLE: The real cost of car ownership-cartco.png  

Attached Files
File Type: xlsx cartco.xlsx (29.3 KB, 1857 views)
echo77 is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 25th May 2010, 20:52   #49
BHPian
 
echo77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: goa
Posts: 359
Thanked: 115 Times

Moving ahead on similar lines, here's how my CA showed me how to calculate the WDV when exchanging old car for a new one.

note: Written Down Value or WDV is the depreciated value of an asset (movable or immovable) for purposes of taxation -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WDV

Carry over depreciation = Old Car WDV + New Car Price - Old Car Sale Price

eg 1: (low resale car, selling for 1L less than its depreciation value)
Old Car WDV: 4L
Add New Car: 9L
Total: 13L
Less Sale of Old Car: 3L
Carry over WDV = 10L (this is the effective cost of your new car as per tax stmt)
1st yr dpr=15% of 10L=1.5L

eg2: (high resale car, selling for 1L more than its depreciation value)
Old Car WDV: 4L
Add New Car: 9L
Total: 13L
Less Sale of Old Car: 5L
Carry over WDV = 8L (this is the effective cost of your new car as per tax stmt)
1st yr dpr=15% of 8L=1.2L

This means there is some benefit for professionals/businessmen if the car sells for a low value.
echo77 is offline  
Old 25th May 2010, 21:32   #50
BHPian
 
JJames's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 83
Thanked: Once

In the OTR price mentioned for the ANHC V/AT model, is it for the Top-End Inspire variant (with all optional accessories & spoilers)?
JJames is offline  
Old 25th May 2010, 22:09   #51
BHPian
 
echo77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: goa
Posts: 359
Thanked: 115 Times

Nope. Base V/AT OTR in Goa. I haven't considered any trims/spoilers for any car.
If I eventually go for the City, I will change the front grille, which will cost about 15k more.
echo77 is offline  
Old 27th May 2010, 18:17   #52
BHPian
 
rnidumolu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 222
Thanked: 90 Times

Out of Topic, but still i have this doubt after seeing the spreadsheet. Does linea give more mileage than Fiesta or it is a typo? I was told my one of my friend that his Linea D is giving him mileage somewhere around 17-18 kmpl and another friend who ones Fiesta is saying he will get 19-20 kmpl basing on the road and trafic conditions. I'm confused now.
rnidumolu is offline  
Old 27th May 2010, 19:57   #53
BHPian
 
echo77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: goa
Posts: 359
Thanked: 115 Times

BSIII Lineas will give 17-18. BSIV should give 19-20

Fiat India
echo77 is offline  
Old 3rd June 2010, 11:41   #54
mkh
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 1,072
Thanked: 133 Times

the service costs for diesel are almost double than that for a petrol. Ex- for a verna petrol costs are 2500 while for diesel 5K for a normal paid service at 6 months intervals. NOt sure about others, but usually diesel services costs much more.
mkh is offline  
Old 3rd June 2010, 13:36   #55
BHPian
 
echo77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: goa
Posts: 359
Thanked: 115 Times

Are you sure about that in modern diesels?

A lot of people on this forum have indicated that servicing costs of modern diesels with respect to petrols has evened out. Furthermore, petrols usually have a shorter servicing period.

Also, when you frequent the official station, service managers tend to push unnecessary expensive stuff, some of which you end up agreeing to for fear of voiding an extended warranty.

If this is based on your experience of Verna diesel, that would mean a Verna diesel would have a 10k per year servicing cost. Do we have a thread of actual servicing costs?

Last edited by echo77 : 3rd June 2010 at 13:38.
echo77 is offline  
Old 3rd June 2010, 15:30   #56
Senior - BHPian
 
ghodlur's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Thane
Posts: 5,993
Thanked: 4,169 Times
Pls add Fiesta petrol

@echo77
Can you add the Fiesta petrol figures also in the excel file taking into account a lot many queries/confusion in the three sedans i.e SX4, City and Fiesta. It would give a clear picture of the TCO of all three in particular.
ghodlur is offline  
Old 3rd June 2010, 16:23   #57
BHPian
 
echo77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: goa
Posts: 359
Thanked: 115 Times

Ok - will upload my updated sheet this weekend with fiesta petrol added as well. I have also put in Civic, Cruze and Altis just for the fun of it.

Please add more suggestions if you want (specific models). Let's try to make the sheet comprehensive.
echo77 is offline  
Old 6th June 2010, 03:07   #58
Senior - BHPian
 
Sn1p3r's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,022
Thanked: 231 Times

@echo77 nice work, I was planning to go with ANHC SMT but it will be VMT now
Sn1p3r is offline  
Old 6th June 2010, 10:09   #59
BHPian
 
echo77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: goa
Posts: 359
Thanked: 115 Times

Thanks Sn1p3r. Good to know the sheet helped! I have myself dropped out the lower ends after getting the numbers on the sheet

Here's a new version for those asking for Fiesta petrols, only the top end S and SXi are included.

Did not add Civic as its base price is 13+.

Did not add Altis J because its a car without anything else. You get seats and a steering wheel and a gear knob, but nothing else.
Attached Thumbnails
ARTICLE: The real cost of car ownership-tco2.png  


Last edited by echo77 : 6th June 2010 at 10:12.
echo77 is offline  
Old 6th June 2010, 13:59   #60
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Dr.AD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Bangalore/Pune
Posts: 1,784
Thanked: 18,342 Times

Very good work, echo77!

It is interesting to note that your work is suggesting that the conventional notions of 'diesels being cheaper than petrol in the long run' could be wrong. I know there are already some threads on this, but your data is one more useful evidence in that case. For example, you are showing that both Linea petrol and Fiesta petrol have lesser TCO than their respective diesel models.

Thanks,
-AD
Dr.AD is online now  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks